No hesitation to raid again inside Pakistan: Obama

By jazbablog - Sun May 22, 6:47 pm

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Washington: US President Barak Obama has indicated he would be prepared to launch another US raid into Pakistani territory if another leading terrorist suspect was found to be hiding there.

In a BBC interview before a state visit to London this week, President Obama said that he respects sovereignty of Pakistan but would go after another very high-value target if found to be there.

He described the killing of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad this month as a “powerful moment” for America.

Obama said he wanted to establish a more co-operative relationship with Islamabad after outrage in Pakistan over the US action, which was carried out without prior notice.

Asked what he would do if the US found another “very high-value target” there, such as the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar, Obama indicated he would act again.

“I’ve always been clear to the Pakistanis and I’m not the first administration to say this that our job is to secure the United States,” he said.
“We are very respectful of the sovereignty of Pakistan. But we cannot allow someone who is planning to kill our people or our allies’ people, Obama added.

“Our hope is, and our expectation is, is that we can achieve that in a way that is fully respectful of Pakistan’s sovereignty. But I had made no secret, I had said this when I was running for the presidency that if I had a clear shot at Bin Laden that we’d take it.”

Obama acknowledged that the raid on Bin Laden’s compound had been a “calculated risk” that could have ended very differently. “There’s no doubt that that was as long a 40 minutes as I care to experience during my presidency,” he said.