Obama Would Send Troops to Pakistan2008 US Presidential hopeful, Senator Barack Obama disclosed Wednesday that he would be willing to send troops to Pakistan should he become elected. Pakistan is a "nuclear arms country" that has cooperated with the United States on its "war against terror" though many critics suggest that nation has allowed fanatic groups to fester within its borders.
Obama said he would send troops into Pakistan to hunt down terrorists even without local permission if warranted - an attempt to show strength when his chief rival has described his foreign policy skills as naive.
The Illinois senator warned Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf that he must do more to shut down terrorist operations in his country and evict foreign fighters under an Obama presidency, or Pakistan will risk a U.S. troop invasion and losing hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. military aid.
"Let me make this clear," Obama said in a speech prepared for delivery at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. "There are terrorists holed up in those mountains who murdered 3,000 Americans. They are plotting to strike again. It was a terrible mistake to fail to act when we had a chance to take out an Al Qaeda leadership meeting in 2005. If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will."
The Bush administration has supported Musharraf and stressed the need to cooperate with Pakistan, but lately administration officials have suggested the possibility of military strikes to deal with Al Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden.
Analysts say an invasion could risk destabilizing Pakistan, breeding more militancy and undermining Musharraf. The Pakistani Foreign Office, protective of its national sovereignty, has warned that U.S. military action would violate international law and be deeply resented.
Congress passed legislation Friday that would tie aid from the United States to Islamabad's efforts to stop Al Qaeda and the Taliban from operating in its territory. President Bush has yet to sign it.
Obama's speech was a condemnation of President Bush's leadership in the war on terror. He said the focus on Iraq has left Americans in more danger than before Sept. 11, and that Bush has misrepresented the enemy as Iraqis who are fighting a civil war instead of the terrorists responsible for the attacks six years ago.
"He confuses our mission," Obama said, then he spread responsibility to lawmakers like Clinton who voted for the invasion. "By refusing to end the war in Iraq, President Bush is giving the terrorists what they really want, and what the Congress voted to give them in 2002: a U.S. occupation of undetermined length, at undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences."
Obama said that as commander in chief he would remove troops from Iraq and putting them "on the right battlefield in Afghanistan and Pakistan." He said he would send at least two more brigades to Afghanistan and increase nonmilitary aid to the country by $1 billion.
Senator Hillary
Clinton has widened her lead over Mr Obama, according to a new poll published today. She remains the 2-1 favorite to become the next US President. Obama sits with 7 to 2 odds.
The Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll put support for the New York senator at 43% among Democrats, while Illinois senator Mr Obama slipped from 25% in June to 22% in July. Ms Clinton's support stood at 39% in June.
The poll also revealed that if the presidential election was held today, either Ms Clinton or Mr Obama would beat the former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, the current favourite for the Republican nomination.
Ms Clinton and Mr Obama have sparred in recent weeks, trading accusations over foreign policy positions.
Mr Obama said he would be willing to meet the leaders of Cuba, North Korea and Iran without conditions - an idea Ms Clinton said was irresponsible and naive.
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Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com
Originally published August 1, 2007 10:09 am ET
