marataz

WASHINGTON - The most extraordinary thing about yesterday's political duel between President Obama and former vice president Dick Cheney wasn't the passion of their convictions or the clash of their values. It was what they agreed on: That the nation went a little crazy after 9/11.But whether that craziness stemmed from clear thinking - a sudden awareness of the nation's vulnerability and the need for aggressive action - or whether it was the product of fear that led to bad decisions that hurt America's image is a great subject for debate.That debate never really happened in the 2008 presidential election because GOP nominee John McCain agreed with Obama on many terrorism policies, but it picked up with a vengeance yesterday, with Cheney's insistence that renouncing waterboarding weakens the nation, while Obama declared that the Bush administration "made decisions based on fear rather than foresight".

Admiral Michael Mullen, who chairs the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was speaking at a meeting of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington.Thousands of Pakistani troops are already battling Taliban militants in the north-west of the country.Up to two million people in the area have fled the fighting, the UN says.

"We can't deny that our success in that regard [in Afghanistan] may only push them [militants] deeper into Pakistan," he said."Can I... [be] 100% certain that won't destabilise Pakistan? I don't know the answer to that," he added.However, Adm Mullen said US and Pakistani forces were planning measures to prevent this, without giving further details.