Why Biden's Going To Southwest Asia Now

Vice President-elect Joe Biden leaves shortly on fact-finding trip to South Asia -- as a Senator.  He is expected to visit, among other countries, Pakistan and meet with president Asif Ali Zardari. Transition officials cited security reasons in refusing to disclose details about the schedule.

The timing  is curious. Why is Biden visiting the region as part of a congressional delegation, as a senator?

According to an official familiar with the planning, Biden wants a real-time assessment of the region "so that the new administration can hit the ground running come January 20," an official familiar with the planning said. Given the attacks in Mumbai, violence in Afghanistan, the IMF bailout of Pakistan, the incoming administration wants to reassure the region that its problems will be high on President Obama's agenda. 

If the administration waited until Biden was sworn in as vice president, it could take up to two months for the military, the State Department and the U.S. Secret Service to plan the trip.

More generally, Biden plans to use the data he'll gather to prepare the administration for direct engagement on day one." As  Senator Biden  and the other national security principals help  the President-elect  formulate policies for the region, it is important to have a baseline assessment of the situation on the ground and the policy  options in each country."

Biden is traveling as part of a bipartisan delegation, including incoming Senate Foreign Relations committee chair John Kerry and Republican Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Susan Collins of Maine. The trip was suggested by the President-elect's national security team, and so I detect a hint of image-shaping at work: the Codel might radiate bipartisan cooperation;  the incoming administration intends to work with members of both parties and not assert a unilateral policy without input.

There is speculation that Biden's Southwest Asia assignment means that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been tasked with the immediate Middle East peacemaking in the Middle East. Transition aides say that's incorrect; they note that the administration's national security principals meet regularly to discuss the region, and that no one has been given a specific portfolio.

Two Democrats close to the transition team said that veteran Mideast negotiator Dennis Ross will join the administration in some formal capacity, perhaps as an envoy or special White House adviser.  During the general election, Ross was a key adviser to Obama on Middle East policy.