Obama Speech Draws Sharp Criticism

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s tough warning to Pakistan that he would call in the military to track down terrorists drew swift criticism from both Republicans and some of his ’08 Democratic rivals.In a speech at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Obama got tough with Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, a close ally of President Bush in the war on terror. Musharraf has come under criticism in some quarters for failing to track down al Qaeda along the isolated, mountainous border with Afghanistan.
“There are terrorists holed up in those mountains who murdered 3,000 Americans,” he said. “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 will not act, we will.’”

Clearly Obama is staking new ground. Last month, he said he would meet with leaders of rogue counties like Iran, North Korea and Cuba, something Bush has refused to do and something Democratic rival Sen. Hillary Clinton called “irresponsible and frankly naïve.’”

Clinton didn’t immediately weigh in on today’s speech, but New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson cautioned that “we should address this problem with tough diplomacy with Gen. Musharraf first, leaving the military as a last resort. It is important to reach out to moderate Muslim states and allies to ensure we do not unnecessarily inflame the Muslim world.”

Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, wasn’t so kind. “The way to deal with it is not to announce it, but to do it,” the Delaware senator said at a National Press Club event. “The last thing you want to do is telegraph to the folks in Pakistan that we are about to violate their sovereignty, putting Musharraf in the position that makes it virtually impossible for him to do anything other than what he’s done, basically cut a deal with the warlords on the border, to our great detriment.”

Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd said he wouldn’t “declare my intentions for specific military action to the media in the context of a political campaign.'’ He called it “dangerous and irresponsible to leave even the impression the U.S. would needlessly and publicly provoke a nuclear power.'’

At the White House, spokesman Tony Snow said that “we think that our approach to Pakistan is one that not only respects the sovereignty of Pakistan as a sovereign government, but is also designed to work in a way where we are working in cooperation with the local government.”