After a Democratic debate in April, some political observers faulted Obama for failing to answer forcefully enough when asked what he would do as president if the U.S. again fell victim to a terrorist attack. While Clinton said she would strike back, Obama, in his first answer, said he would check the country's emergency preparedness and consult with other nations.
But Obama aides and advisors denied that the speech Wednesday was an attempt to make up for that response.
In the speech, Obama on some points used the terminology of the Bush administration in describing the problem of terrorism. He said that terrorists were "at war with us" and were "seeking to create a repressive caliphate in the Muslim world."
Yet he also declared that as president, he would launch a new effort to reach out to the Islamic world, which he said had come to view the United States as a hostile occupier.
In arguing that the United States should reserve the right to strike across the Pakistani border, Obama was taking an approach similar to that of the Bush administration. White House officials recently said they wanted to preserve that option, a comment that drew a sharp reaction from the Pakistani government.
But in threatening to withhold aid, Obama was going further than the White House, which has opposed any aid reduction on grounds that the U.S. should not risk weakening a government with a nuclear arsenal that could be ousted by a radical Islamic leadership.
Gregory Craig, a top Obama foreign policy advisor, said the candidate did not accept the Pakistani government's argument that its collapse would usher in a radical regime.
"Those are not the choices in Pakistan," he said in an interview. "There's a huge moderate opposition in Pakistan that is hostile to the extremists."
Obama's speech comes at a time when Washington has been debating how to deal with a resurgent Al Qaeda and Taliban in tribal-controlled areas of Pakistan. A recent U.S. intelligence report said Al Qaeda had regrouped and built strength in areas bordering Afghanistan.
Obama's position may be a sign of shifting sentiment in Congress on how to deal with Pakistan. Lawmakers have been largely unwilling to pressure Pakistan, but Congress last week adopted legislation that would condition aid on Pakistan's performance in fighting terrorism.
