Pakistan’s sovereignty

In response to a specific question whether the US should respect Pakistan’s territorial sovereignty in the pursuit of al Qaeda and the Taliban, Obama was more hawkish than McCain. If Pakistan does not live up its responsibilities as a territorial state, Obama suggested the US should have no qualms about its sovereignty.

“If we have Osama bin Laden 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. We will kill bin Laden; we will crush al Qaeda. That has to be our biggest national security priority”, Obama thundered.

McCain cautioned against Obama’s Pakistan rhetoric. “If you’re trying to gain the support of another country, then you want to do everything 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.” Obama’s tough posturing on Pakistan is meant to outflank McCain in the foreign policy debates. Having opposed the war in Iraq, Obama believes a hard line on Pakistan will prevent the Republicans from questioning his national security credentials.

Confronting Russia

There was greater agreement between Obama and McCain on constraining a newly assertive Russia. McCain emphasised greater moral and political support to Georgia, a recent target of Russian military intervention, and called for strong Western measures against Moscow.

... contd.