Pak a ‘private nightmare’ that could see extremist takeover overnight: Obama on WikiLeaks
By ANITuesday, November 30, 2010
ISLAMABAD - United States President Barack Obama considers Pakistan as his “private nightmare”, suggesting that the US’ front-line ally in the war against terrorism could surprise the whole world waking up one morning to hear that the country had been taken over by the extremists.
“He (Obama) described Pakistan as his ‘private nightmare,’ suggesting the world might wake up one morning ‘with everything changed’ following a potential Islamic extremist takeover,” The News quoted one of the cables, as saying, according to whistleblower website WikiLeaks.
Obama expressed his concerns about Pakistan in two consecutive meetings with ranking US Senator Codel Casey and Congressman Ackerman of the House’s Foreign Relations Committee before their visit to Israel for a meeting with Defence Minister Ehud Barak last year.
When asked if the use of force on Iran might backfire with moderate Muslims in Pakistan, thereby exacerbating the situation, “Barak acknowledged Iran and Pakistan are interconnected, but disagreed with a causal chain.”
“By avoiding confrontation with Iran, Barak argued, the US faces a perception of weakness in the region.”
To the contrary, Obama argued that if the US had directly confronted North Korea in recent years, others would be less inclined to pursue nuclear weapons programmes. (ANI)
