Posted on 08/08/2007 2:03:59 PM PDT by InvisibleChurch
OAKLAND, California (AP) - Democratic presidential hopeful Barak Obama on Wednesday stressed the need for the U.S. and Pakistan to be «constructive» allies in fighting al-Qaida, but softened earlier talk in which he pledged to unilaterally hunt down terrorists in the south Asian nation.
Obama declined to criticize the Bush administration's policies on Pakistan, and expressed sympathy for the challenges confronting Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who faces a growing militant backlash in his country.
«President Musharraf has very difficult job, and it is important that we are a constructive ally with them in dealing with al-Qaida,» Obama, an Illinois senator, said.
Obama did not repeat the most incendiary line from a foreign policy speech of Aug. 1, when he promised: «If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will.
That pledge set off ripples of resentment in the relationship between Washington and Islamabad, prompting Pakistani officials to warn against American incursions into their country.
President George W. Bush was vague on Monday when asked whether he would consult with Pakistan before chasing al-Qaida leaders into Pakistan. Last year, he offered a clearer answer, saying he could not send thousands of troops into Pakistan to search for bin Laden without an invitation from the government. «Pakistan's a sovereign nation,» Bush said then.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said much the same on Sunday.
Obama appeared to soften his own position on the issue Tuesday night during a debate with other Democratic presidential hopefuls.
«I did not say that we would immediately go in unilaterally. What I said was that we have to work with (President Gen. Pervez) Musharraf, because the biggest threat to American security right now are in the northwest provinces of Pakistan.
Asked Wednesday morning whether there was any difference now between his position and the Bush administration, Obama twice deflected, once saying he did not know Bush's stance and then saying he did not speak for the White House.
Obama repeated his insistence that «We can't send millions and millions of dollars to Pakistan for military aid, and be a constant ally to them, and yet not see more aggressive action in dealing with al-Qaida. Bush recently tried to ensure just that, signing into law a measure that ties U.S. aid to Pakistan to progress in combatting militants.
The closest Obama came to directly criticizing the Bush administration on the matter was to cite a report in The New York Times that said then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld had called off a raid against al-Qaida leaders in Pakistan in 2005, despite having actionable intelligence.
«The American public needs to understand these issues because part of what's at stake in this next, upcoming foreign policy debate is the need to shift resources out of Iraq, in part to attend to these problems,» he said.
«If the American people don't understand that this is where the real threat is, that we're on the wrong battlefield right now, then we may get confused and elect a president who continues down the wrong road instead of the one that's really going to make a difference in terms of our security.
Obama spoke to reporters after spending the morning with a home health care worker, Pauline Beck, as she made her rounds in Oakland. The senator swept cobwebs and mopped floors, and said afterward it had reshaped his views on health care and unions.
Obama was the fourth Democratic presidential candidate to participate in a program sponsored by SEIU, the service-workers' union.
What a joke. A lightweight. He does have those big ears...
This year's flip-flopper. Reminiscent of shades of John F'n Kerry.
b. hussein....who is he trying to kid....
bomb a muzzie nation...no way!!!
Too late. The horse is out of the barn.
He would probably advance the Illamic “cause” better than CAIR in the long run....
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