Presidential candidate Obama lays out his national security policies
(1 Aug 2007) 1. Mid of Barack Obama, Democratic Presidential Candidate, walking into room 2. Cutaway of cameras 3. Mid of Obama walking up to podium 4. Wide of Obama at podium and audience listening 5. SOUNDBITE: (English) US Senator Barack Obama, Democratic Presidential Candidate: "I understand that President Musharraf has his own challenges. But let me make this clear. There are terrorists holed up in those mountains who murdered 3,000 Americans. They are plotting to strike again. It was a terrible mistake to fail to act when we had a chance to take out an al-Qaida leadership meeting in 2005. If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will." 6. Cutaway of press 7. SOUNDBITE: (English) US Senator Barack Obama, Democratic Presidential Candidate: "It's time to turn the page on the diplomacy of tough talk and no action. It's time to turn the page on Washington's conventional wisdom that agreement must be reached before you meet, that talking to other countries is some kind of reward, and that presidents can only meet with people who will tell them what they want to hear." 8. Cutaway of press 9. SOUNDBITE: (English) US Senator Barack Obama, Democratic Presidential Candidate: "As President, I will work with our friends and allies, but I won't outsource our diplomacy in Tehran to the Europeans, or our diplomacy in Pyongyang to the Chinese. I will do the careful preparation needed, and let these countries know where I stand. They will no longer have the excuse of American intransigence, although they will have our terms: no support for terror and no nuclear weapons." 10. Wide of Obama speaking STORYLINE: US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama took a tough line on Wednesday with nations he believes are not doing enough to fight international security threats - countering criticism from chief rival Hillary Rodham Clinton last week that he's naive when it comes to US foreign policy. In a show of strength at a speech billed as a national security address, Obama said he would send troops into Pakistan to hunt down terrorists even without local permission if warranted. Speaking at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars, the Illinois senator warned Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf that under an Obama presidency he would have to do more to shut down operations in his country that threaten international security, and evict foreign fighters. Or - he warned - Pakistan would risk a US troop invasion and losing hundreds of millions of dollars in US military aid. "Let me make this clear," Obama said, "It was a terrible mistake to fail to act when we had a chance to take out an al-Qaida leadership meeting in 2005." "If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will," he said. Musharraf has been a key ally of Washington in fighting terrorism since the September 11, 2001 attacks, but has faced accusations from some quarters in Pakistan of being too closely tied to America. The Bush administration has supported Musharraf and stressed the need to cooperate with Pakistan, but lately administration officials have suggested the possibility of military strikes to deal with al-Qaida and its leader, Osama bin Laden. Obama's tough talk comes the week after his rivalry with New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton erupted into a public fight over their diplomatic intentions. Obama responded by using the same words to describe Clinton's vote to authorise the Iraq war and called her "Bush-Cheney lite." Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
