Electoral Truce for 9/11

Seven years after the attacks, Osama Bin Laden is still on the run and George W. Bush has only four months left to catch the Al Qaida leader “dead or alive”, as he himself put it. His two wannabe successors promise to be smarter and more determined. Barack Obama confirmed that he “won’t hesitate” to strike terrorist cells in Pakistan, even without authorization from Islamabad, whereas John McCain, the republican candidate, had an even better one, saying that he would follow Bin Laden to “the gates of Hell”; “I know how to get him!” he boasted.

On the anniversary of the September 11th attacks the two rivals have decided to show a united front against terrorism, by calling a truce during their electoral campaigns. They will be making a joint appearance today in New York on the site of the World Trade Center. In a joint press release the two senators declared that: “All of us came together on 9/11 – not as Democrats or Republicans – but as Americans,”

Perverse. How will the two candidates lead their war on terror? Barack Obama has long been pleading in favor of sending the majority of those troops currently serving in Iraq (146 000) to Afghanistan, in particular to the regions bordering Pakistan. In his opinion the “American presence in Iraq is boosting the appeal of Al Qaida” but, paradoxically, he doesn’t explain why a large scale strengthening of the military presence in Afghanistan wouldn’t have the same detrimental effect.” When I am president, I will lead a war which must be won by taking troops out of Iraq and sending them to the battle fields in Afghanistan and Pakistan”, he declared last year during a speech on national security.

Nor does he explain how he will avoid conflict with Pakistan, a powerful Muslim nation of 170 million that possesses nuclear weapons, if he encroaches on its national sovereignty. As for McCain, he has criticized his rival’s desire to challenge Islamabad on several occasions, saying: “this is not the right moment to threaten Pakistan”. But, like Obama, he advocates pulling out at least 15 000 GIs from the divisions currently serving in Iraq in order to boost numbers in Afghanistan. “It’s obvious that we need more troops in Afghanistan,” reiterated McCain yesterday whilst taking a pop at his rival. “Senator Obama thinks that we should lose in Iraq in order to win in Afghanistan. I want to win in Iraq and in Afghanistan”.

“Cells”. On Tuesday the President, George W Bush, finally proved Obama right by announcing that, in January, 8000 GIs will be pulled out of Iraq, whilst 4000 Marines will be transferred to operation zones in Afghanistan. The American army has also, for several months, been carrying out aerial strikes on an almost daily basis against suspected Taliban and Al Qaida bases in Pakistan, without approval from Islamabad. At the risk of destabilizing fragile Pakistan, American Special Forces have even intervened in Pakistan-controlled Waziristan, killing 15 civilians according to Islamabad, whose government reacted by confirming that Pakistan will henceforth protect its sovereignty.

Last year whilst assessing the White House’s “War on Terror” Obama argued that: “We have compromised our most precious values in the detention cells of Guantanamo and the dark corridors of Abou Ghraib”. A point of view shared by John McCain, who, as an ex-prisoner of war, opposes torture and also wishes to shut down Guantanamo.

The two candidates also agree on the question of eavesdropping without authorization from a judge on Americans who communicate with foreign parties. In June Congress gave authorization, counting votes from both McCain and Obama, the latter having nonetheless protested against phone tapping.