Obama, McCain clash over attacks on terror havens in Pakistan

Washington, Sept 27 (PTI) U.S. White House contenders
Barack Obama and John McCain were locked in sharp exchanges
over extremist presence in Pakistan, with the Democrat nominee
vowing to launch military strikes on al-Qaeda and Taliban
targets inside the country and his Republican rival countering
that he would not go public on such attacks.

In their first televised Presidential debate in the
run-up to the November election, that lasted for 90-minutes,
Obama said that he would launch military strikes against
Pakistan, if Islamabad was unable or unwilling to act.

"If United States has Al Qaeda, bin Laden, top-level
lieutenants in our sights and Pakistan is unable or unwilling
to act, then we should take them out," Senator Obama said.

Obama was hammered by his Republican rival, a veteran of
Vietnam war, who said such threats were unhelpful in the wider
strategy saying, ".. I would not publicly state that I'm going
to attack them." McCain favoured a strategy that involves use
of Pakistani forces against such targets.

The Illinois Senator accused the Bush administration of
"taking its eyes off the ball (Afghanistan)" and diverting
military resources to Iraq, which he said had hampered the
blows against these groups.

"... we've got to deal with Pakistan, because al Qaeda
and the Taliban have safe havens in Pakistan, across the
border in the northwest regions," Obama said.

He said despite enormous sums of money touching USD 10
billion over the last seven years being pumped into Pakistan
"they have not done what needs to be done to get rid of those
safe havens".

The sharp exchanges between the two white House hopefuls
came as tensions mounted between allies Islamabad and
Washington after the September three cross-border raids by
U.S.-led coalition forces into Pakistan.

Obama, 47, said, "... it's difficult. This is not an easy
situation. You've got cross-border attacks against U.S.
troops. And we've got a choice. We could allow our troops to
just be on the defensive and absorb those blows again and
again and again, if Pakistan is unwilling to cooperate, or we
have to start making some decisions."

The Democrat nominee hit out at the Republican policy of
wooing Musharraf at the cost of alienating Pakistani people.

"And the problem with the strategy that's been pursued
was that, for 10 years, we coddled Musharraf, we alienated the
Pakistani population, because we were anti-democratic. We had
a 20th-century mindset that basically said, 'Well, you know,
he may be a dictator, but he's our dictator'.

But Senator McCain had a different take on Pakistan.

"...the new President of Pakistan... has got his hands
full. I've been to Waziristan. I can see how tough that
terrain is. It's ruled by a handful of tribes. And, yes,
Senator Obama calls for more troops, but what he doesn't
understand, it's got to be a new strategy..," he said.

"The same strategy that he condemned in Iraq. It's going
to have to be employed in Afghanistan. And we're going to have
to help the Pakistanis go into these areas and obtain the
allegiance of the people. And it's going to be tough.

And the Pakistanis are going to have to understand that
bombing in the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad was a signal from
the terrorists that they don't want that government to
cooperate with us in combating the Taliban and jihadist
elements," he added.

However, Obama advocated taking U.S. troops from Iraq and
sending them to Afghanistan to deal with resurgent Taliban
militia and al-Qaeda forces there.

"We cannot separate Afghanistan from Iraq because our
commanders have said we don't have the troops right now to
deal with Afghanistan."

But, Arizona Senator countered saying that around 30,000
extra troops that he had advocated for Iraq had "succeeded and
we are are winning in Iraq. We will come home with victory and
honour."

And McCain called for a new strategy for fighting
al-Qaeda and rejected suggestions of cutting off aid to
Pakistan.

"I'm not prepared at this time to cut off aid to
Pakistan. So I'm not prepared to threaten it, as Senator Obama
apparently wants to do, as he has said that he would announce
military strikes into Pakistan."

He said, "...So it's not just the addition of troops that
matters. It's a strategy that will succeed. And Pakistan is a
very important element in this. And I know how to work with
him. And I guarantee you I would not publicly state that I'm
going to attack them."

The two contenders, in the first of the three
Presidential debates before the November 4 elections, had
radically opposed visions on how to protect America from
another terror attack such as the 9/11.

McCain said though he believed the threat of another 9/11
was less than in the past, "We still have a long way to go
before we can declare America safe."

Obama said, "The biggest threat we face right now is not
a nuclear missile coming over the sky, it's a suitcase"
hinting that the new dangers to the world would come from
nuclear weapons landing into the hands of terrorists and
chemical attacks.