Obama spelled out his strategy for going after terrorists in Pakistan in an address at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars yesterday. Today, he told the Associated Press, he draws the line at the use of nuclear weapons. AP photo by Charles Dharapak.
by Mike Dorning
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama told the Associated Press today that as president he would forswear use of nuclear weapons of any type against terrorist targets in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Obama made his comments a day after issuing a public threat to attack Al Qaeda operatives hiding in a remote region of Pakistan near the Afghanistan border if Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf did not act against the terrorists.
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As of yet, there has not been any serious discussion of a nuclear strike in Afghanistan or Pakistan. But the U.S. government historically has maintained ambiguity about the circumstances under which it would use nuclear weapons.
There has been a spirited debate within military and foreign policy circles about the option of using tactical nuclear weapons in Iran to destroy suspected underground nuclear production facilities. Even tactical nuclear weapons can produce radioactive fallout that affect civilian health over a wide area, particularly if they are detonated close to the ground, as they would need to be for maximum effectiveness against hardened targets.
In his comments, Obama specifically cited a reluctance to use nuclear armaments in a strike “involving civilians”–a criteria for use of nuclear weapons that potentially could have far-reaching consequences for military policy. Still, the comments reported by the Associated Press were based on a brief exchange as Obama was leaving an event and did not include much elaboration from the senator.
The Associated Press report follows:
By DENNIS CONRAD?
Associated Press Writer?
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Thursday 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 quickly added, “Let me scratch that. There’s been no discussion of nuclear weapons. That’s not on the table.”
Obama was responding to a question by the Associated Press about whether there was any circumstance where he would be prepared or willing to use nuclear weapons to defeat terrorism and al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
“There’s been no discussion of using nuclear weapons and that’s not a hypothetical that I’m going to discuss,” Obama said after a Capitol Hill breakfast with constituents.
When asked whether his answer also applied to the possible use of tactical nuclear weapons, he said it did.
The Illinois senator warned Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf in a major foreign policy speech that he would use U.S. military force in Pakistan even without Musharraf’s permission if necessary to root out terrorists.
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.
Obama warned that terrorists in the mountains of Pakistan are planning another attack on the United States, after already killing 3,000 Americans in their 2001 attacks.
“It was a terrible mistake to fail to act when we had a chance to take out an al-Qaida leadership meeting in 2005.” he said. “If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf will not act, we will.”