OBAMA TALKS TOUGH ON FOREIGN POLICY

Obama Talks Tough on Foreign Policy

By NEDRA PICKLER

08.01.07, 4:14 PM ET

WASHINGTON -
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama warned Pakistan Wednesday that he would use military force if necessary to root out terrorists, the second time in two weeks that he's staked out a dramatically different road for U.S. foreign policy.
The Illinois senator's tough talk against Pakistan comes after he pledged to meet with leaders of rogue nations who have been rebuffed by President Bush.
And while Bush has embraced Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf as a valued ally in the war on terror, Obama said he would take a harder line. He said Musharraf must do more to shut down terrorist operations along the Afghan border or risk a U.S. military attack against the foreign fighters and the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. military aid.
"Let me make this clear," Obama said. "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-Qaida leadership meeting in 2005. If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf will not act, we will."
Obama's stance against Pakistan comes after last week's dispute with top rival Hillary Rodham Clinton in which the New York senator accused him of being "irresponsible and naive" for saying he would meet with heads of states such as Cuba, North Korea, Syria and Iran without conditions.
This new policy is designed to show that Obama would be a tough commander in chief when times demand it, even though he opposed the Iraq war and wants to open a dialogue with foreign foes.
Obama's foreign policy ideas all have one thing in common - they stake ground on the flip side of current U.S. policy when many voters are dissatisfied with the country's direction in the world. The first-term Illinois senator is determined to show he can give diplomacy a fresh start.
"It's time to turn the page," Obama said four times in a 45-minute speech at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The speech was written by Ben Rhodes, a longtime aide to Center president, Sept. 11 Commission Vice Chairman and former Indiana Rep. Lee Hamilton.
While he is rejecting Bush's approach, Obama is also trying to lump Clinton in with the administration. His speech also criticized Congress' approval of the Iraq war resolution four times.
"With that vote, Congress became co-author of a catastrophic war," Obama said. In 2002, Clinton vote for the resolution authorizing Bush to topple Saddam Hussein's regime.
Thousands of Taliban fighters are based in Pakistan's vast and jagged mountains, where they can pass into Afghanistan, train for suicide operations and find refuge from local tribesmen. Intelligence experts warn that al-Qaida could be rebuilding to mount another attack on the United States.
Analysts say U.S. military action could risk destabilizing Pakistan, breeding more militancy and undermining Musharraf. A military response also could be difficult, given Pakistan's hostile terrain and the suspicion of its warrior-minded tribesmen against uninvited outsiders.
Husain Haqqani, director of the center for international relations at Boston University and a former adviser to several Pakistani prime ministers, said Obama and other presidential candidates should be cautious about moving from Bush's stance of "putting all of the eggs in General Musharraf's broken basket to the other extreme of just talking too tough without listening to all the nuances."
"They should not look at the sledgehammer approach because the people of Pakistan are not America's enemies, and any lashing out may create more enemies of the United States there," Haqqani said.
Obama's speech opened him to new criticism from rivals for the presidential nomination. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said the United States should practice tough diplomacy with Musharraf, but "it is important not to unnecessarily inflame the Muslim world."
Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joe Biden was harsher, saying Obama was showing inexperience in foreign policy.
"The way to deal with it is not to announce it, but to do it," the Delaware senator said. "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."
The Clinton campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
Bush spokesman Tony Snow defended the administration's policy toward Pakistan, without commenting directly on Obama's remarks.
"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," he said.
Greg Craig, who served as an assistant to President Clinton and led his defense during impeachment, worked with Obama on the speech and said the senator would turn to Musharraf first before taking military action.
He pointed out that when Obama announced his opposition to an Iraq invasion in 2002, he said he wasn't opposed to all wars, just "dumb wars." Action in a state that is harboring terrorist groups is another matter, Craig said.
"This is an example where he is willing to have increased reliance on military options," Craig said.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Nedra Pickler covers presidential politics for The Associated Press.
Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed .

Source: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/08/01/ap3977879.html

P.S. My question is (if his dream comes true); Will Obama catch Osama?