Obama tough on Pakistan

WASHINGTON (Agencies) - White House hopeful Barack Obama Tuesday promised to shift the “single-minded” US focus on Iraq to a threatening “terrorist sanctuary” in tribal Pakistan, in a broad new blueprint for US foreign policy.

Setting the stage for a major foreign tour designed to bolster his commander-in-chief credentials, Obama called for tough, principled US diplomacy, rooted in his vow to get most US troops home from Iraq in 16 months.

He promised to make Iraqis provide for their own security, to strike at Al-Qaeda in Pakistan if Islamabad would not, to secure loose nuclear weapons, combat climate change and end the “tyranny” of US reliance on foreign oil.

“Iraq is not going to be a perfect place, and we don’t have unlimited resources to try to make it one,” Obama said in the speech in Washington.

“I will give our military a new mission on my first day in office: ending this war,” Obama said, ahead of an expected visit to Iraq and Afghanistan soon, and talks with the leaders of European powers, Israel and Jordan.