US presidential candidates see Pakistan as vital to war on terror

WASHINGTON— Senator Hillary Clinton, the leading Democratic candidate for the 2008 US presidential election, will redouble efforts to fight terrorism in Pakistan if she is elected.
Senator John McCain, a leading Republican presidential candidate, believes that success in the war against terror in Pakistan is as vital as it is in Afghanistan.
Barack Obama, a Democrat, will insist, not just request, Pakistan crack down on militants. John Edwards, another Democrat, includes Pakistan in a string of unstable countries such as Saudi Arabia, and urges the United States to seek to prevent terrorism in these countries.
Two major Republican candidates, Rudolph Giuliani and Mitt Romney, do not believe Pakistan is important enough to get a place in their major foreign policy objectives.
The candidates made these observations in articles they wrote for the Foreign Affairs magazine of the US Council on Foreign Relations, America’s most prestigious think-tank which influences policy makers in both Republican and Democratic parties.
Senator Clinton, who President George W. Bush thinks is the most likely to replace him at the White House in 2008, says that “the forgotten frontline in the war on terror is Afghanistan,” and not Iraq, “where our military effort must be reinforced”.
While writing about the importance of defeating the Taliban and Al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan, she claims that terrorists are increasingly finding safe havens in the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. “Redoubling our efforts with Pakistan would not only help root out terrorist elements there; it would also signal to our Nato partners that the war in Afghanistan and
the broader fight against extremism in South Asia are battles that we can and must win,” she writes.
“Yet we cannot succeed unless we design a strategy that treats the entire region as an interconnected whole, where crises overlap with one another and the danger of a chain reaction of disasters is real.”
Senator Clinton believes that in Asia, India has a special significance both as an emerging power and as the world’s most populous democracy.
“As co-chair of the Senate India Caucus, I recognise the tremendous opportunity presented by India’s rise and the need to give the country an augmented voice in regional and international institutions, such as the UN.” Senator McCain is the most sympathetic to Pakistan. “Success in Afghanistan is critical to stopping Al Qaeda, but success in neighbouring Pakistan is just as vital,” he notes.
“We must continue to work with President Gen Pervez Musharraf to dismantle the cells and camps that the Taliban and Al Qaeda maintain in his country.”
He warns that both Taliban and Al Qaeda still have sanctuaries in Pakistan, and the ‘Talibanisation’ of Pakistani society is advancing.
“The United States must help Pakistan resist the forces of extremism by making a long-term commitment to the country.
“This would mean enhancing Pakistan’s ability to act against insurgent safe havens and bring children into schools and out of extremist Madressahs and supporting Pakistani moderates.”
Senator Obama, who stirred a major international controversy two months ago when he said that if elected he will send US troops into Pakistan to attack suspected Al Qaeda hideouts, retains his hawkish attitude towards Pakistan.
“We will join with our allies in insisting — not simply requesting — that Pakistan crack down on the Taliban, pursue Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants, and end its relationship with all terrorist groups,” he writes.
“At the same time, I will encourage dialogue between Pakistan and India to work toward resolving their dispute over Kashmir and between Afghanistan and Pakistan to resolve their historic differences and develop the Pashtun border region.
“If Pakistan can look toward the east with greater confidence, it will be less likely to believe that its interests are best advanced through cooperation with the Taliban.” John Edwards, who contested the 2004 election for vice-president and is now a presidential candidate, notes that Al Qaeda has expanded its reach not only across Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan but even in Europe. “Unsurprisingly, we see radicalism rising today in unstable countries such as Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and, of course, Iraq and Afghanistan,” he warns.
“This illuminates the importance of foreign and national security policies that seek to prevent terrorism, not just respond to it.”