obama naïve?

Ben Smith, who blogs for The Politico, posted an excerpt from Sen. Joe Biden's (D-DE) appearance on the Diane Rehm Show yesterday (Aug 2).

First of all, Diane Rehm is one of things I miss most about DC. That voice!

Second, here's what Biden said:

“… in order to look tough [Barack Obama has] undermined his ability to be tough, were he president. Because if you’re going to go into Pakistan -- which is already our policy by the way, if there’s actionable intelligence-- you need actionable intelligence from moderates within Pakistan working with you. Now if you’re already going to say I’m going to disregard whatever the country thinks and going to invade, the likelihood you’re getting the cooperation you need evaporates. It’s a well intended notion he has, but it’s a very naïve way of figuring out how you’re going to conduct foreign policy.”

This is in response to a statement Obama made recently - he said that he would consider unilateral strikes on terrorists within Pakistan. Here's a WaPo article about it.

So, bit by bit:
Going after the real Al-Qaeda (as opposed to "Al-Qaeda in Iraq") has been Obama's (and most Democrats') central anti-terrorism foreign policy for a while. It's no secret that Pakistan is where AQ is. Put them together and you end up with Obama's statement -- seems pretty rudimentary to me.
Biden is a Senate Foreign Relations Committee veteran. He's probably one of the most knowledgeable senators when it comes to foreign policy, which is basically the only thing he has going for him as a presidential candidate. That's what makes this excerpt so lame. Clearly it's just part of this noisy political nonsense that Obama is impetuous and naïve about foreign policy. In reality, who's the naïve one? I'd say anyone who supported going into Iraq and who now continues to stand by a Pakistan policy that makes our actions dependent upon "moderates" in the government informing on Al Qaeda is the truly naïve one.
Also, it's necessary to make a distinction here: Obama was not referring to invading Pakistan. Musharraf's government insists it has nothing to do with AQ's presence within its borders, so they shouldn't mind Obama's "willingness" to strike at whomever is hiding in those caves in the least.