Oakland, Calif. – Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama said Wednesday it’s critical for Pakistan to be a constructive ally in fighting al-Qaeda, one week after threatening military action to hunt down terrorists if President Pervez Musharraf doesn’t act.
Obama and his spokesman offered measured criticism of the Bush administration’s actions and policies on Pakistan.
The candidate twice declined an opportunity to explain the difference between his proposals and the White House’s but expressed sympathy for Musharraf, who faces a growing militant backlash in his Muslim nation.
“President Musharraf has a very difficult job, and it is important that we are a constructive ally with them in dealing with al-Qaeda,” the Illinois senator said.
Obama did not repeat the most incendiary line from his foreign policy speech last Wednesday, when he promised: “If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won’t act, we will.”
That pledge set off ripples of resentment in the relationship between Washington and Islamabad, prompting Pakistani officials to warn against U.S. incursions into their country.
Asked Wednesday whether there was any difference now between his position and the Bush administration’s, Obama twice sidestepped the question, once saying he did not know Bush’s stance and then saying he did not speak for the White House.
Obama repeated his insistence that “we can’t send millions and millions of dollars to Pakistan for military aid and be a constant ally to them and yet not see more aggressive action in dealing with al-Qaeda.”
Obama spoke to reporters after spending the morning with a home-health-care worker, Pauline Beck of Alameda, as she made her rounds in Oakland. The senator helped clean a house, and said afterward it had reshaped his views on health care and unions.
He also said it was more gratifying work, in some ways, than working the halls of Congress.
“It actually was kind of liberating. When you’re in the Senate you spend all your time talking,” he said. “When you’re cleaning out some cobwebs or you’re mopping the floor, and you wring out the mop and you see the dirty mop water, you know that you actually accomplished something.”
Obama was the fourth Democratic presidential candidate to participate in a program sponsored by SEIU, the service- workers’ union.
