IndiaPost.com - Obama vows to go after

WASHINGTON: Disapproving of US' reliance on President Pervez Musharraf in the war against terror, presidential hopeful Barack Obama, who raised a storm by suggesting unilateral action against al-Qaida in Pakistan, has vowed to go after the terror network there.

"On the question of Pakistan, we just had an election there. But I have said very clearly that we have put all our eggs in the Musharraf basket. That was a mistake", he said at the Democratic presidential debate in Austin, Texas. "We should be going after al-Qaida and making sure that Pakistan is serious about hunting down terrorists, as well as expanding democracy," Obama said. Promising that as commander-in-chief of the US, he would do everything to keep America safe, Obama said: "My number one job as president will be to keep the American people safe.

I will do whatever is required to accomplish that. I will not hesitate to act against those that would do America harm." The Democratic Senator, who is locked in a tight race with Hillary Clinton for the party nomination for Presidential showdown in November this year, also attacked the former first lady for her decision to support sending of US troops to Iraq.

Terming US military's intervention in Iraq as the "single most important foreign policy decision of this generation", Obama said "I believe I showed the judgment of a commander-in-chief. "And I think that Senator Clinton was wrong in her judgments on that," Obama said speaking at the University of Texas campus in a debate sponsored by CNN. The Illinois senator also suggested that sending US forces to Iraq was directly impacting its military operations in Afghanistan.