U.S. Elections 2008

White House hopefuls John McCain and Barack Obama clashed once again on combating terrorism on the Pak-Afghan border in their second of three debates.

Democrat Obama, replying to a question from an audience, said, “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,” vowed the Illinois senator. “We will crush Al-Qaeda, that has to be our biggest national security priority.” In response, his Republican rival McCain said Obama had “announced that he will attack Pakistan.” Quoting early 20th Century US president Theodore Roosevelt, McCain said the commander-in-chief should “talk softly, but carry a big stick.” “Senator Obama likes to talk aloud,” said McCain, arguing Obama’s strategy would gain no allies in Pakistan. A cross border attack would instead rally Pakistani public opinion against the United States, he said. “We need to get them to work with us and turn against the Taliban and others.”

In response, Obama noted that McCain had once sang a ditty at a campaign meeting with the words “bomb, bomb, bomb Iran” and charged that the Republican had also “called for the annihilation of North Korea.” “That is not an example of speaking softly,” said Obama. “We have a difficult situation in Pakistan. I believe that part of the reason we have a difficult situation is because we made a bad judgment going into Iraq in the first place when we hadn’t finished the job of hunting down bin Laden and crushing al-Qaeda.

“So what happened was we got distracted, we diverted resources, and ultimately bin Laden escaped.” He said the terrorists were now raiding American troops in Afghanistan and were stronger now than at any time since 2001.

“And that’s why I think it’s so important for us to reverse course, because that’s the central front on terrorism. They are plotting to kill Americans right now. As Robert Gates, the defence secretary, said, the war against terrorism began in that region and that’s where it will end.” He argued “part of the reason it’s so important for us to end the war in Iraq is to be able to get more troops into Afghanistan.

“But I do believe that we have to change our policies with Pakistan. We can’t coddle, as we did, a dictator, give him billions of dollars and then he’s making peace treaties with the Taliban and militants. What I’ve said is we’re going to encourage democracy in Pakistan, expand our non-military aid to Pakistan so that they have more of a stake in working with us, but insisting that they go after these militants.”

We would welcome your comments or opinion about U.S. Presidential Elections 2008. What impact will this election have on global politics? Do you think that ongoing war on terror could decide the future course of U.S. foreign policy? The US is presently squeezed by a grim economic crisis, will it affect Presidential polls? Is it Obama v. McCain war and who is going to win the election?

Islamabad horrific suicide bombing

Pakistan mourns its history’s worst-ever horrendous suicide bombing deep inside the highly protected Blue Area of its citadel of power, the federal capital, Islamabad.

The suicide bomber skillfully timing the deadliest attack chose just after the Iftar time, when he rammed a truck laden with hundreds of kilograms of high-quality explosives into the entrance of the Hotel Marriott, turning the last Iftari of the faithful at the hotel into a nightmare, as the blast rocking entire Islamabad completely devastated the six-storey hotel, leaving over 50 dead and 257 persons injured besides scores of vehicles charred and buildings in the vicinity of two kilometers damaged. The analysts with one voice declared that the perpetrators of such dastardly acts taking innocent lives in the holy month of Ramazan could never be called Muslim.

Do you think that by making foolproof security arrangements, this suicide attack could have been averted? How true is the official claim of this suicide bombing not the result of any security lapse? What are the motives behind these suicide attacks? What in your opinion basically triggers these suicides attacks? What immediate actions the government should take for combating suicide bombings?

Let us know your valuable views, please.