[Peace-discuss] Obama: Bush, McCain not pro-war enough

[Ricky Baldwin]

Horrifying.  Thanks for passing this on, Carl.  Obama needs a public tongue lashing over this, before he gets elected and stars to care less what we say.

 Ricky


"Only those who do nothing make no mistakes." - Peter Kropotkin



----- Original Message ----
From: C. G. Estabrook <galliher at uiuc.edu>
To: peace-discuss <peace-discuss at anti-war.net>
Sent: Monday, September 15, 2008 11:19:23 PM
Subject: [Peace-discuss] Obama: Bush, McCain not pro-war enough

[This is very dangerous: while the US media are preoccupied with Wall Street 
(and foolishness about the nominees) the Bush administration (with the 
"realists" in charge) have decided to launch US ground troops in terrorist raids 
into Pakistan.  The raids usually kill civilians, and the US military has 
outraged Pakistan with the murder of many in the last two weeks.  Pakistan is 
not a hollow shell, like Iraq (or Cambodia), but a populous country with a 
strong army and nuclear weapons. There have already apparently been exchanges of 
gunfire between Pakistani forces and the American invaders. But the erstwhile 
"peace candidate" approves. His campaign says that in fact the administration 
needs to do much more of the same, as he would, and condemns McCain for not 
being as belligerent as Obama.  Disgusting.  --CGE]


    Obama: Bush's Pak incursions, small step
    Mon, 15 Sep 2008 21:25:59 GMT

US Presidential hopeful Barrack Obama has termed the cross-border raids by the 
US forces into Pakistan as a small step in the right direction.

Obama supported the raids but described them as "baby steps" by the Bush's 
administration.

"The Bush administration has come to that point of view. That's the kind of 
policy we have to pursue and continue ... This is a baby step, but it's a baby 
step in the right direction and something that John McCain hasn't been willing 
to acknowledge," Susan Rice, the top foreign policy adviser to Senator Obama, said.

"President Bush and the administration, indeed, are doing what Senator Obama 
said we must, well over a year ago. If we have actionable intelligence about a 
high-value terrorist target inside Pakistan and Pakistan is unwilling or unable 
to take that target out, such as Osama bin Laden, Senator Obama's view is we 
should act," she added.

"Senator Obama has been saying for well over a year, in fact, has been saying 
frankly since before the invasion of Iraq that the central front in the war on 
terror is Afghanistan and Pakistan. And we need to invest there," she noticed.

Experts say Bush is once again violating international law by invading yet
another nation which has not attacked the US

Rice said that President Bush and his administration were doing what Senator 
Obama believed in, saying invading Pakistan did not mean hurting the country's 
sovereignty but should be viewed as an act of self-defense.

"Not to invade. Not to take over Pakistan's sovereignty, but to take out that 
target as an act of self-defense," Rice concluded.

The Obama camp statement comes after the Bush administration authorized raids 
against militants in Pakistan without prior approval from Islamabad.

Subsequently, the Pakistani Army were given orders to retaliate against any 
unilateral strike by the Afghanistan-based US troops inside the country and its 
Air force fighters carried out sorties in the tribal region for the first time 
after US missiles attacks killed dozens of civilians.

Earlier, some US senators said the congress must intervene legislatively and 
legally to prevent Bush from continuing down this dangerous path.

Pak jet fighters clashed US drones on Monday

Meanwhile, some US drones violated the Pakistani airspace on Monday but after 
facing Pak fighter jets' fire, fled the area, according to local media reports.

The upsurge in strikes and irresponsible statements by US officials have alarmed 
the Pakistani military, which says it would hit back against any further US 
aggression inside the country.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=69518&sectionid=3510203

    Zardari, Gilani vow to confront US raids
    Mon, 15 Sep 2008 23:51:20 GMT

The Pakistani President and Premier have vowed to defend the country's 
sovereignty against any aggression by the American forces.

“[Gilani] called the president of Pakistan and discussed with him the frequent 
violation of the country's air space and incursions by the US forces,” said a 
statement issued by the Prime Minister Seyed Yousuf Raza Gilani's office.

“Both of the leaders share the idea that the sovereignty and territorial 
integrity of the country should be respected at all cost,” the statement added.

The two leaders “vowed to defend Pakistan” in the conversation made just before 
President Asif Ali Zardari left the country to visit Britain.

Sources privy to the conversation told Daily Times that the top leaders had been 
'uneasy' with the reported US plan to go after targets in the tribal areas 
despite Pakistan's protests.

They said Gilani asked Zardari to press the UK to convince the US to stop the 
incursions.

Pakistani state media said that Zardari would hold talks on “the emerging 
situation on the troubled Pak-Afghan border” in London.

Zardari, Gilani commitment followed bloody incursions by the US ground troops 
into tribal belt as well as a string of missile strikes by CIA-operated drone 
aircraft.

The unilateral US military operations which killed dozens of civilians including 
women and children have caused public outrage in the Muslim country.

Following the lethal attacks, the Pakistani army chief has declared that 
Pakistan would defend the country's territorial integrity at all cost.

Meanwhile, Pakistani troops fired shots and clashed US troops crossing into the 
South Waziristan region of Pakistan on Monday, local sources said.

Pakistan's officials have warned that the aggressive US policy will widen the 
insurgency by uniting the tribesmen with the Taliban militants, and intensify 
the anti-US sentiments in the region.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=69525&sectionid=351020401
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