Pakistani officials had no immediate public comment on the speech. But in an interview before Obama's address, the governor of Pakistan's Baluchistan Province criticized the U.S. threats of armed intervention and the conditioning of U.S. aid.
Gov. Owais Ahmed Ghani said the threat of military intervention was "very unfortunate" and had set off a strongly negative reaction among Pakistanis.
Clinton's campaign declined to comment on the speech.
Other Democratic candidates criticized Obama's comments, even while saying they would be equally tough in fighting terrorism.
"My international experience tells me that we should address this problem with tough diplomacy with Gen. Musharraf first, leaving the military as a last resort," said New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a former diplomat.
Referring to Pakistan, Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) called it "dangerous and irresponsible to leave even the impression the United States would needlessly and publicly provoke a nuclear power."
The campaign of Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) issued a statement saying it "congratulates Sen. Obama for a Johnny-come-lately position." It said that Biden had co-written the legislation approved by Congress last week that conditions aid to Pakistan on its cooperation in combating Al Qaeda and the Taliban. It also said Biden had a long history of arguing that U.S. troops should be shifted from Iraq to Afghanistan.
"We find it a little disingenuous that Sen. Obama is hailing this as a new bold initiative when he has neglected to join his colleagues in the Senate when the opportunities have been there to redirect our forces into Afghanistan," Biden campaign manager Luis Navarro said in a written statement.
paul.richter@latimes.com
