Senator Barack Obama has accused Pakistan of misusing U.S. military aid meant to help it fight al Qaeda and the Taliban to prepare for war against India. In an interview with Fox News he also says the United States must put more pressure on Pakistan to crack down on Islamist militants, hold it accountable for increased military support, and be prepared to act aggressively against al Qaeda; “if we have bin Laden in our sights, we target him and we knock him out,” he says. However he adds that “nobody talked about some full-blown invasion of Pakistan.”
The latter part of his comments is not that new, nor indeed that different from the policies of the current U.S. administration. But it is his comment about India that has been seized upon by the media in South Asia. ”We are providing them military aid without having enough strings attached. So they’re using the military aid that we use, to Pakistan, they’re preparing for war against India,” he says.
You can see the stories in The Times of India and Dawn here and here.
It will be interesting to see if Obama expands on those comments next week, either in the Fox News interview (so far only the early part has been released) or elsewhere. The main question is how the United States would try to convince the Pakistan Army to turn its full force against al Qaeda and the Taliban on Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, while easing up on its traditional preoccupation of defending its border with India. Holding Pakistan accountable for U.S. military aid is one thing; changing the psychology of the Pakistan Army is quite another.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, Obama has said the U.S. war in Afghanistan would be made easier if the United States worked to improve trust between India and Pakistan. “A lot of what drives, it appears, motivations on the Pakistan side of the border, still has to do with their concerns and suspicions about India,” he told a news conference in Amman back in July.
So pressure on Pakistan to crack down harder on al Qaeda and the Taliban is likely to be accompanied by U.S. pressure on India to make peace with its much smaller neighbour. But India deeply resents any outside interference in its dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir, which it sees as a bilateral issue.
The United States desperately needs Pakistan’s help to avoid a humiliating failure in Afghanistan. But it is also anxiously courting India (as highlighted by the U.S.-India nuclear deal) as it realigns its alliances in Asia to deal with an increasingly powerful China.
So what gives?
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Pakistan is double crossing US by posing as if it is helping against terrorism but actually using US for warring with India and also stealthily spreading missiles technology to the Islamic countries sympathetic to terrorists. In the post-cold war era, America no longer needs any more to rely on Pakistan to achieve a balance against Islamic terrorism. Instead US can change its policy and join hands with India and make use of India as a regional leader to counter Pakistan from helping other Islamic countries and Afghanistan.
- Posted by V. Ilavazhagannorthern ireland is the past- same for all religions preach peace, islam means peace. forget the past. where is the peace now. all this rife, who is the cause of it if not islamists- and of course europeans are naive and they dont see far.
- Posted by iirisAfter reading so many comments I wonder on the general opinion of whats happening. America is reaping the fruits of the seeds it has sown in the past. So who is to blame. Not PAKISTAN or the people of Pakistan. Its the foreign policy of US that is to blame.For the future US and world generations,the arrogant foreign policy of US needs some change.You cannot buy peace. You have do peaceful acts to be in peace. Thats what all religion teaches.
- Posted by RKFirst of all it is a 100% truth both candidate will not say anything about aid being provided to Israel, and beleive that senator McCain is right on the reason that him going to pakistan and actually first handed seeing the toughness that Pakistani army has to dealt with in the rural ares. So far any leads on top terrorist have been provided by Pakistan and they are doing the best they can u cant just come around blame Pakistan when US it self has not succeed one bit in IRAQ. I believe Obama needs to calm his thoughts down on adding additional countries in to war at the moment he Basically wants to shift the curve from iraq toward pakistan. AND HOW IN ANY SENSE THIS WILL HELP BRING US TROOPS BACK HOME WHEN WE WILL ENGAGE A WAR AGAINST A NATION WHO IS NOT JUST THE BIGGEST ALLIE IN THE REGION BUT ALSO HAS ONE OF THE LARGEST MILITARY which WHICH IS WELL EQUIPPED. HOW IN HELL WILL THIS WILL HELP AN AVERAGE AMERICAN WHEN THE COST OF WAR WILL QUADRUPLE… and Economy will be disasterous….. sadly to say that i m voting for democratic party but i believe that we have very week candidates up for election………..
- Posted by rahimcool.
- Posted by taimurJust leave them the hell alone, quit all this inhumane thought geared towards muslims. Before deciding whether you should bomb an entire group of people you should first understand the difference between MUSLIM, and TERRORIST for god sake. geez. As for Obama’s comments, whatever, he and Mccain are indeed puppets when all is said and done
- Posted by AHIt just shows Obama would be a right president. Bush could not understand that.
- Posted by AndrewI just want to ask my CHRISTIAN friends here a question,
- Posted by HRhow many people died on 9/11?
Now answer this: How many INNOCENT MUSLIMS have been killed since 9/11?
Now tell me WHO IS THE BIGGEST TERRORIST?
What did IRAQ have to do with 9/11?
How many innocent women and children have died since invasion?
Do you believe in God, aren’t you scared to face the ONE and ONLY GOD, and answer to him for all the EVILS your leaders have committed?
As Pakistanis seem to be beginning to realize that the Taliban are no friends of Islam, Pakistan or Muslims, it is important that the US handle the situation very carefully. Any hint that the US is “pushing” Pakistan to crack down on the Taliban, or directly intervening, would be counterproductive. Let Pakistanis see it as their fight rather than America’s fight. That is the only way to rebuild support for war against terrorism in Pakistan, to isolate the Taliban, and to defeat them. Repeated belligerent statements from Obama are sending the wrong signals to Pakistanis at a delicate moment. Such indiscretions by Obama do not inspire any confidence in his ability to handle complex and nuanced issues of national security and foreign policy. Let’s hope he begins to learn from the experience of his VP pick, Senator Joe Biden, to keep him and the US out of trouble, while giving him time and opportunity to mature on these life-and-death issues for America and the world.
I am not a fan of Bill O’Reilly. But I do appreciate how O’Reilly challenged Obama and his policy statements on Pakistan. Such challenges are necessary to bring Mr. Obama to his senses, and help make him more sensitive about the consequences of his words for world peace and security.
- Posted by Riaz HaqHe is 100 percent right. The first thing he should do after getting elected is to BOMB and DESTROY Pakistan. We do not need allies like them. Lets fight the right wars and CRUSH the right enemies.
- Posted by Howdy DoodyObama for President!!
for decades pak has proved that terrorism is a part of its himalayan stupid diplomacy.they havent learnt any lesson from its father india any goodwill.a better thing is that all its population be sent to a planet where there is no human beings but only satans like them.let them kill eachother by the time the world population will live in peace.Rest In Peace paksatans.
- Posted by j daveedI think the comments show a lack of understanding of the Pakistani military situation. We really should leave Pakistan the hell alone. The recent missle attacks, if they prove to be American in origin, combined with increased political pressure would basically shatter any hope or friendly relations with Pakistan. My opinion, better no relations than bad relations. Leave ‘em alone.
- Posted by JacobRealmerv, whay you are saying is truly appalling
Not only you suggest that we totally ignore a group of people just because they have different religious beliefs from us, you are also suggesting that their religion spreads harm and destruction and is inherently bad in itself.
By no means that ANY religion teaches you to be a bad person. All religions are fundamentally similar; to be a peace-loving person, obedient to agreed laws. To suggest that the Muslims convert to Christianity because Islam is the predomninant religious belief of terrorists is being ignorant of their culture. There will always be radicals in all religions, for a historical example, please look at the Northern Ireland conflict in the 60s to 80s.
You also suggest to deny them improvements to their life because it grants them easy access to Western countries to continue bombing people up there. Unless you’re telling me terrorists wear a distinct sign at their fronts at airports or they are super-class ocean swimmers, they are already arriving by plane. So why do you punish the common man who works 10 hours a day to earn an equivalent of US$8 a week a better life? How would you feel if your government denied you a better living just because you’re from a certain background?
And yes, while I agree that wars will always go on in the world, that does not mean it is wrong to prevent it. That’s what the United Nations (UN) is for.
Realmerv, Your suggestions of refusing to send these people aid to improve their standard of living only falls short of suggesting that the world bombs that region until no human being can survive there.
- Posted by MauriceObama is correct in demanding that US military aid be used for the purpose it was meant for in the contract signed with Pakistan but it would all make more sense if he applied the same rule to Israel when he also hands over military aid which should not be used for war against Palestinians. It seems that there are too many different set of rules for “friends” and for “enemies”, hence more enemies are made than friends.
- Posted by Tamzinthe prospective superpower india has already started running to the realm of prosperity…to a reflection of century back lone richest nation and thats why all colonaial nations searched for a sea route to it and found america and so on.pakis also did the same thing but gone upside down.u paks ask for aids to feed ur people not against india.u will be scraped soon and thrown into among the satans because u r satans.
- Posted by j daveedSenator Obama`s comments while stale and belated are true to the core - as an Indian, having seen the havoc that Pakistani sponsored Islamic fundamentalism is doing not just to India, but also Afghanistan
US has always and will coddle Pakistan till eternity (i.e. till Pakistan exists on the map) - Either ways for us Indians, being non-aligned is and was the best approach, the US acted for it`s national interests and pointed aircraft carriers against India in 1971 - veteod and dashed all moves by India to integrate in the world economy (exception - only on the US `s terms would India be allowed into the elit.. hah) ; the US media, painting us INDIANS as 3rd world and poverty ridden etc (if that is not racist, dunno what is), the Nuclear deal is a sham.. another effort by US to control Indian aspirations .
India with or without US`s permission is on the way to greater role and significance than ever .. nothing can and will stop us
- Posted by AbhishekObama, McCain - it is irrelevant who ‘wins’ the U.S. Presidency, and in any case, it is likely already decided. They are but puppets.
infowars.com
- Posted by AL