[quote=BBC]
US President Barack Obama has said he would order a similar operation to that which killed Osama Bin Laden if another militant leader was found in Pakistan.
He said the US was mindful of Pakistani sovereignty but said the US could not allow "active plans to come to fruition without us taking some action".
The killing of Bin Laden by US forces in a Pakistani garrison town on 2 May strained ties between the two allies.
President Obama was speaking to the BBC ahead of a European visit.
Asked what he would do if one of al-Qaeda's top leaders, or the Taliban leader Mullah Omar, was tracked down to a location in Pakistan or another sovereign territory, he said the US would take unilateral action if required.
"Our job is to secure the United States," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr during a wide-ranging interview.
"We are very respectful of the sovereignty of Pakistan. But we cannot allow someone who is actively planning to kill our people or our allies' people.
"We can't allow those kind of active plans to come to fruition without us taking some action."
Tense partnership
Bin Laden, the Saudi-born leader of al-Qaeda, was killed in a raid by US Navy Seal commandos. They stormed the compound where he was living in Abbottabad, a town that is home to Pakistan's main military academy.
The discovery that Bin Laden had been living there embarrassed the Pakistani military, and led to renewed suspicions that he had enjoyed protection from some members of the Pakistani security forces.
The Islamabad government strongly denied such suggestions and said the US raid had undermined the country's sovereignty.
A resolution approved by Pakistani MPs earlier this month said the country would "no longer tolerate such actions and a repeat of unilateral measures could have dire consequences for peace and security in the region and the world".
Pakistan has been a major ally in the war against militants in neighbouring Afghanistan.
But US-Pakistani relations have also been strained by drone strikes targeting militants in the border area in recent years.
Reflecting on the raid - which he and his aides followed from the White House - Mr Obama said "that was as long a 40 minutes as I care to experience during my presidency".
He added that the killing of Bin Laden could be a "wake-up call where we start seeing a more effective co-operative relationship" with Pakistan.
Talking to the Taliban
On Afghanistan, Mr Obama said that while the conflict could not be solved militarily, raising troop levels had put the Taliban "back on its heels" in a way that could facilitate the brokering of a political reconciliation.
"Ultimately it means talking to the Taliban," he said, adding that the "Taliban would have to cut all ties to al-Qaeda, renounce violence and they would have to respect the Afghan constitution".
Afghan presidential spokesman Waheed Omar welcomed this suggestion, saying it reflected Kabul's long-held view. "We're glad that we now have clear words from the president of the United States about it," Mr Omar told the BBC.
In a discussion that ranged from the US economy to Middle East peace talks and his family's fondness for the British monarch, Mr Obama:
Restated that the 1967 border between Israel and the Palestinian territories must be the basis for negotiations to set up a future Palestinian state
Praised the popular uprisings across the Middle East, saying that as long as people struggled for democracy non-violently the US would be "strongly supportive of their efforts"
Described America's economy as his "number-one focus" in the run-up to the 2012 presidential election; "My main concern day to day is how do we make sure the American economy is growing," he said
Praised domestic successes on health care, education and clean energy
Acknowledged that the US had unfinished business over immigration and the energy bill.
President Obama is due to leave for Europe later on Sunday. He will first visit the Irish Republic, then the UK, France, and Poland.
He is expected to discuss a range of issues, including the upheavals in the Middle east and North Africa, the war in Afghanistan, and the downturn that has forced European governments to adopt austerity measures.
[/quote]
Source:
[url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/13478318[/url]
And Pakistan, this is why you shouldn't become a safe haven for the taliban.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAUY1J8KizU[/media]
I don't think Militant Leaders will be in Pakistan for a while.
US, stop being world police.
[QUOTE=doonbugie2;29988248]US, stop being world police.[/QUOTE]
Just because "World Police" has a negative connotation to it, doesn't mean that it's a bad thing.
Like Obama said, something has to be done about people aiming to kill innocent civilians.
[QUOTE=doonbugie2;29988248]US, stop being world police.[/QUOTE]
It's not "World Police" when they're taking out someone who's a [b]direct[/b] threat to their own country. Pakistan was obviously hiding Bin Laden, and they were stonewalling the United States at every major attempt to rout him out.
Take a second and imagine if Bush was saying this. What would you think? It really shouldn't be that hard to imagine Bush saying this because the rhetoric about terrorism and freedom are the same.
[QUOTE=Maurice;29988283]Just because "World Police" has a negative connotation to it, doesn't mean that it's a bad thing.
Like Obama said, something has to be done about people aiming to kill innocent civilians.[/QUOTE]
Cooperating with other countries and doing small raids is fine. Invading two countries for nearly a decade with barely any results isn't. :colbert:
off that fucking bastard Ghaddafi finally
Nice to know politics are breaking laws and saying they will offend more then once.
just wanna get this across - al-qaeda =\= taliban
the taliban is a local resistance group / political movement that targets US troops in afghanistan
al-qaeda is an international terrorist group which targets western countries and their citizens worldwide as part of a global jihad
[editline]22nd May 2011[/editline]
one's a bigger asshole than the other kids :eng101:
[QUOTE=Mon;29988564]just wanna get this across - al-qaeda =\= taliban
the taliban are a local resistance group / political movement who targets US troops in afghanistan
al-qaeda is an international terrorist group which targets western countries and their citizens worldwide as part of a global jihad
[editline]22nd May 2011[/editline]
one's a bigger asshole than the other kids :eng101:[/QUOTE]
There's another difference there as well, the Afganistani Taliban want to get rid of the coalition troops while the Pakistani Taliban want political power like Hamas currently enjoys.
i still don't get why we're allied with pakistan
have they ever helped us
[QUOTE=bobste;29988766]i still don't get why we're allied with pakistan
have they ever helped us[/QUOTE]
Friends close, enemies closer.
"A++ Raid would raid again"
[QUOTE=bobste;29988766]i still don't get why we're allied with pakistan
have they ever helped us[/QUOTE]
Yes they have. Not only have to allowed us use of their military bases and also declared a war on terror, but they have captured and turned over five hundred Al-Qaeda members. They have had major issues in that since their involvement against Al-Qaeda because there has been a lot of violence against them. They are certainly fighting Al-Qaeda and the Taliban in that there have been many suicide bombings against them, they have put a lot of money into the war against terror despite their fragile economy and stability, and they have complied with just about all of our requests.
[QUOTE=Mon;29988564]just wanna get this across - al-qaeda =\= taliban
the taliban are a local resistance group / political movement who targets US troops in afghanistan
al-qaeda is an international terrorist group which targets western countries and their citizens worldwide as part of a global jihad
[editline]22nd May 2011[/editline]
one's a bigger asshole than the other kids :eng101:[/QUOTE]
You aren't really right. The Taliban is an Islamist coalition dedicated to taking back their Muslim land. This is much of the reason why they are fighting against the US, they are trying to take their land back. Al-Qaeda is a terrorist group who's goal is to stop US involvement in the Middle East. This is made very clear in Osama Bin Laden's statements. The group did declare a jihad on the crusaders and the Jews, but it is not a world wide jihad, they only care about Muslim land, much like the Taliban. They are two different groups, that is certain, but they share a similar goal in taking back their land.
And why wouldn't they?
[QUOTE=Mon;29988564]just wanna get this across - al-qaeda =\= taliban
the taliban are a local resistance group / political movement who targets US troops in afghanistan
al-qaeda is an international terrorist group which targets western countries and their citizens worldwide as part of a global jihad
[editline]22nd May 2011[/editline]
one's a bigger asshole than the other kids :eng101:[/QUOTE]
The Taliban are bigger assholes, they're just not as ambitious.
[QUOTE=Maurice;29988283]Just because "World Police" has a negative connotation to it, doesn't mean that it's a bad thing.
Like Obama said, something has to be done about people aiming to kill innocent civilians.[/QUOTE]
Then maybe the USA should look at their own military
Don't try the same thing again. Better to give your enemy with something they haven't really prepared for since the Osama raid would be a lesson for them.
[QUOTE=Cuntsman;29992577]Then maybe the USA should look at their own military[/QUOTE]
They do, more than half of the civilian deaths are not purposeful psychotic murder sprees
[QUOTE=Tetracycline;29992970]They do, more than half of the civilian deaths are not purposeful psychotic murder sprees[/QUOTE]
Source? not trolling, I'm genuinely curious
[QUOTE=Mon;29988564]just wanna get this across - al-qaeda =\= taliban
the taliban are a local resistance group / political movement who [b]targets US troops in afghanistan[/b]
al-qaeda is an international terrorist group which targets western countries and their citizens worldwide as part of a global jihad
[editline]22nd May 2011[/editline]
one's a bigger asshole than the other kids :eng101:[/QUOTE]
If they target US troops, US troops should target them.
[QUOTE=Cuntsman;29992577]Then maybe the USA should look at their own military[/QUOTE]
You are really thick if you think accidental civilian casualties and specifically targeting defenseless civilians is hardly equatable.
So basically, fuck you Pakistan.
Pakistan is a joke of a country.
[QUOTE=Tetracycline;29992970]They do, more than half of the civilian deaths are not purposeful psychotic murder sprees[/QUOTE]
So the other 30% or so are purposeful?
I don't know, you just said more than half, is that 51% or what?
I haven't really been paying attention to all this politics shit; but someone told me we were paying billions of dollars to Pakistan to help us look for Bin Laden and other Al-Qaeda sources, so they were just taking our money and safeguarding him
is that relatively true or a rumor or is the person who told me that an idiot?
Ballsy to say, but at least he is putting his foot down.
[QUOTE=MagicBurrito;29998338]I haven't really been paying attention to all this politics shit; but someone told me we were paying billions of dollars to Pakistan to help us look for Bin Laden and other Al-Qaeda sources, so they were just taking our money and safeguarding him
is that relatively true or a rumor or is the person who told me that an idiot?[/QUOTE]
The aim of giving the money to them was for this purpose but I don't think it was completely deliberate that they were safeguarding him.
They didn't really care about looking for Bin Laden, even if the US had given them money to do so. There is also a huge level of corruption in their security and intelligence forces so they probably had many many people in their pocket. They didn't protect him, but they didn't care if he was there.
[QUOTE=MagicBurrito;29998338]I haven't really been paying attention to all this politics shit; but someone told me we were paying billions of dollars to Pakistan to help us look for Bin Laden and other Al-Qaeda sources, so they were just taking our money and safeguarding him
is that relatively true or a rumor or is the person who told me that an idiot?[/QUOTE]
I'm pretty sure that we were giving them aid, but they were kind of safeguarding him.
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