Editorial
Obama's threat to strike Pakistan
US politicians must have better grasp of issues
Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri is fully justified in expressing his and his government's sense of outrage at a recent comment by a US politician. Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama stated the other day that if he won the White House he would not hesitate to order unilateral military strikes against terrorist targets inside Pakistan. Mr. Obama's comments are only the latest in a line from Washington, where powerful men have clearly opined that the American military could go into action against Taliban and al-Qaeda elements inside Pakistan in a bid to finish them off or smoke them out. Clearly, the American point of view has been dictated by the fact that Pakistan's own military and intelligence services have to date been unable to rein the terrorists in. American frustration is therefore pretty much understandable, but not acceptable. Moreover, when Obama is willing to negotiate with leaders of states the US has reservations about, it makes little sense why he must treat Pakistan with such contempt.The frustration a state feels over the inability of another to do what must be done can never be an excuse to say or do things that can leave international law turned on its head. Of course there have been violations of Pakistani territorial integrity in recent times by the US military, but to suggest that it can or should be accepted as a normal affair would be morally and politically wrong. Senator Obama, waging an uphill battle to prevent the Democratic nomination for the presidency from going into Senator Hillary Clinton's hands, was without doubt trying to score political points with his threat to strike targets in Pakistan. But it was politics that demonstrated an embarrassingly poor understanding of relations between states and, on a broader level, of the ramifications that might follow an assault by a sovereign state on another. The senator appeared not to be worried that he was speaking of striking targets in a country that remains operational as an independent state. In other words, in his own partisan political interest, he was quite willing to undermine the security of a state whose particular problems he may not even be aware of. Senator Obama and others like him, in America and elsewhere, will need to demonstrate a better grasp of international affairs. The urge for power must be accompanied by a willingness to be responsible in behaviour. Anything less than that is a sign of immaturity as well as a hint of future danger.
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