On the campaign trail, Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama has announced he would attack areas in Pakistan with or without approval of the Pakistani government. Obama outlined his view in a speech Wednesday in Washington.

Senator Barack Obama: “Now, I understand that President Musharraf has his own challenges. But let me make this clear: There are terrorists holed up in those mountains who murdered 3,000 Americans. They are plotting to strike again. It was a terrible mistake to fail to act when we had a chance to take out an al-Qaeda leadership meeting in 2005. If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf will not act, we will.”

Obama’s stance comes a week after he drew flak from rival candidate Senator Hillary Clinton for his foreign policy views. Clinton had criticized Obama for saying he would meet with leaders of Iran, Syria and North Korea, if elected.