Presidential candidates debate Pakistan

The paper, quoting anonymous U.S. officials, said that the action was done without seeking approval from the Pakistani government.

Comparing The Washington Post report to Obama’s take on Pakistan, Cressey said, “There’s not a whole lot of distance between the policy he articulated and what the administration is doing now.”

“The reality is that any president, Republican or Democrat, will unilaterally go after a target when the intelligence is good,” he said, adding, “You’re not attacking an ally; you’re attacking a de facto sanctuary.”

Indeed, former White House Press Secretary Tony Snow resisted commenting on Obama’s opinions in August, but did concede that the administration would “keep all options open if there’s actionable intelligence” when it comes to al-Qaeda targets within Pakistan.

Still, the McCain campaign contends that it was foolish for Obama to announce he would carry out such an attack as president, especially while vying for the White House.

“Before the (Mir Ali) attack, did President Bush or Defense Secretary Gates get up and have a press conference?” asked McCain foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann. “Of course they didn’t.”

“You don’t telegraph your punches; you don’t announce to the world that you’re going to do things in a way that could harm your allies.”

It’s criticism that Obama responded to at Tuesday’s debate.

“With respect to Pakistan, I never said I would bomb Pakistan,” said Obama.

“What I said was that if we have actionable intelligence against bin Laden or other key al-Qaida officials and we -- and Pakistan is unwilling or unable to strike against them, we should.”

He went on to compare his position to recent Bush administration actions in the nuclear-armed country.

“And just several days ago, in fact, this administration did exactly that and took out the third-ranking Al Qaida official, “said Obama. “That is the position we should have taken in the first place…the fact is, it was the right strategy.”

Video: Watch Obama defend himself during an MSNBC debate

While the critical dialogue between McCain and Obama has now shifted back to Iraq in the last couple days, Pakistan will likely re-emerge as the contest moves forward, especially if the Arizona senator continues criticizing his potential opponent’s foreign policy experience.

Picking the president: The candidates Click to visit that candidate's MSNBC page or click the XML symbol for an RSS feed. John McCain                Barack Obama

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