Pakistanis don’t expect changes
Diplomacy Next U.S. president faces policy challenges

By The Associated Press

Published: October 6, 2008

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — A Pakistani wish list for the next U.S. president might read something like this: an end to cross-border strikes on militants, more aid for the country’s battered economy and greater support for its elected government.

But few people here expect to be satisfied whoever enters the White House — a sign of the difficulties ahead for the U.S. in winning public sympathy at a critical time in the war on terrorism.

Pakistanis, many of whom speak English well, have been treated to considerable coverage of the U.S. race via local newspapers and television channels. Few, however, are seeing substantive differences between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain.

Dealing with nuclear-armed Pakistan and the spillover of the Afghanistan war into its territory is one of the biggest foreign policy challenges awaiting the next president.

With the Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan, the U.S. is pushing Pakistan to eliminate militant bases on its side of the border and has carried out a surge of missile strikes against suspected al-Qaida and Taliban targets.

Pakistan is battling rising terrorist violence of its own, underscored by last month’s bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad that killed 54 people.

Obama has openly supported U.S. strikes in the lawless and rugged border region, and has questioned whether Pakistan has done enough to fight militants despite receiving more than $10 billion in U.S. aid since 2001.

McCain says engaging Pakistanis is vital to defeating extremists, and that cross-border strikes shouldn’t be discussed "out loud.”

His vice presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, raised eyebrows when she appeared to endorse Obama’s more hawkish tone on Pakistan. McCain was forced to defend the remark, saying it was not meant to be taken as a policy statement.

"I don’t see much difference in essence in their approaches, so I don’t see any change in the policy, whoever comes to power,” said Khalid Mahmood, a Pakistani diplomat.

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