Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama had stuck his foot in his mouth once again, saying that if he were president, he would not use nuclear weapons “in any circumstance” to fight terrorism in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“I think it would be a profound mistake for us to use nuclear weapons in any circumstance,” Obama said, with a pause, “involving civilians.”
Then, he flopped. “Let me scratch that. There’s been no discussion of nuclear weapons. That’s not on the table,” he said.
Later, he was asked by Associated Press if he would use nukes to beat terrorism or to catch Usama bin Laden.
“There’s been no discussion of using nuclear weapons and that’s not a hypothetical that I’m going to discuss.”
His remarks drew criticism from chief rival Hillary Rodham Clinton.
“Presidents should be very careful at all times in discussing the use or non-use of nuclear weapons. … I don’t believe that any president should make any blanket statements with respect to the use or non-use of nuclear weapons,” Clinton said.
The Illinois senator’s fumble came just a day after he warned U.S. ally Pakistan he would put U.S. troops in Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s country to root out terrorists, and just two weeks after Obama said he’d meet with dictators of dangerous rogue nations such as Iran and North Korea.
Pakistan’s political instability, and its possession of nuclear weapons, has some worried Musharraf could be replaced by religious fanatics.
Pakistan has nuclear weapons and is politically unstable, raising concerns that the current military leadership could be replaced by religious fanatics who would be less cautious in using the weapons.
Fleshed out in yesterday’s speech, Obama’s foreign policy is shaping up to be a “talk to your enemies, invade your friends” approach to American relations abroad.
Analysts say U.S. military action could risk destabilizing Pakistan, breeding more militancy and undermining Musharraf.
Husain Haqqani, director of the center for international relations at Boston University, said Obama and other candidates should be cautious about moving from President Bush’s stance of “putting all of the eggs in General Musharraf’s broken basket to the other extreme of just talking too tough without listening to all the nuances.”
“They should not look at the sledgehammer approach, because the people of Pakistan are not America’s enemies, and any lashing out may create more enemies of the United States there,” said Haqqani, an adviser to Pakistani officials.
With Post Wire Services.