Obama again backs strikes inside Pakistan

NEW YORK - Democrat Barack Obama, in the presidential debate Tuesday night, said the US should attack terrorists in Pakistan's border region if the Pakistani government won't do it, but his Republican rival John McCain responded that Obama was foolishly announcing that he would attack another country. Much of the televised debate at Nashville, Tennessee, was on the financial crisis, the top concern among American voters.


Obama said, "We are in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. This is final verdict on the failed economic policies of the last eight years".


McCain talked up energy independence. He said: "Americans are angry, they're upset, and they're a little fearful".


The town-hall format at Belmont University allowed voters to ask questions while NBC's Tom Brokaw moderated. The candidates' third and last debate will be on Oct 15.


One of the sharpest exchanges in the debate was over what should be done if the US knew the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and his followers in Pakistan, and Pakistan was unable or unwilling to strike. Obama repeated he would attack across the border in that instance.


"Senator Obama likes to talk loudly," McCain responded.


"In fact, he said he wants to announce that he's going to attack Pakistan. Remarkable. I'm not going to telegraph my punches, which is what Senator Obama did. And I'm going to act responsibly, as I have acted responsibly throughout my military career and throughout my career in the US Senate.


I think that if we knew of Al-Qaeda - more specifically Taliban, it's mainly Taliban that are operating in these places - that we have to do what's necessary. We don't have to advertise it.


Obama said problems have mounted in Afghanistan because the US military was sent into Iraq "when we hadn't finished the job of hunting down (Osama) bin Laden and crushing Al-Qaeda. So what happened was we got distracted ... and ultimately bin Laden escaped, set up base camps (across the border) in the mountains of Pakistan" and was attacking US troops.


He added, "If we have Osama in our sights and the Pakistani government is unable or unwilling to take them out, then I think that we have to act, and we will take them out".


McCain said Obama's rhetoric was misplaced. "Teddy Roosevelt used to say ... talk softly but carry a big stick... if you're trying to gain the support of another country, then you want to do anything you can that they would act in a cooperative fashion. When you announce that you're going to launch an attack into another country, it's pretty obvious that you have the effect that it had in Pakistan. It turns public opinion against us."


Reacting to McCain's criticism of his Pakistan position, Obama said he never proposed invading the South Asian country. "I want to be very clear about what I said. Nobody called for the invasion of Pakistan. Sen McCain continues to repeat this. What I said was the same thing that the audience here today heard me say, which is, if Pakistan is unable or unwilling to hunt down bin Laden and take him out, then we should. Now, that I think has to be our policy, because they are threatening to kill more Americans".


He denounced McCain for proposing bombing of Iran. "Sen McCain, this is the guy who sang, "Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran," who called for the annihilation of North Korea. That I don't think is an example of "speaking softly. This is the person who, after we had - we hadn't even finished Afghanistan, where he said, "Next up, Baghdad."


Obama also stated that the popular opinion of America "had diminished in Pakistan was because we were supporting a dictator, Musharraf, and had given him $10 billion over seven years, and he had suspended civil liberties. We were not promoting democracy. This is the kind of policies that ultimately end up undermining our ability to fight the war on terrorism, and it will change when I'm president".


For his part, McCain rejected Obama's salvo on his Iran bombing idea as untrue and assured the Americans that he will get hold of Osama bin Laden.


"I understand what it's like to send young Americans in harm's way. I say - I was joking with a veteran - I hate to even go into this. I was joking with an old veteran friend, who joked with me, about Iran. But the point is that I know how to handle these crises. And Sen. Obama, by saying that he would attack Pakistan, look at the context of his words. I'll get Osama bin Laden, my friends. I'll get him. I know how to get him."


Obama also slammed the Afghan government for not being responsive to the people's needs. "We're also going to have to work with the Karzai government, and when I met President Karzai, I was very clear that, "You are going to have to do better by your people in order for us to gain the popular support that's necessary. I don't think he has to be a dictator. And we want a democracy in Afghanistan. But we have to have a government that is responsive to the Afghan people, and, frankly, it's just not responsive right now".