Bush: US open to assassinations in Pakistan

President Bush insisted on Aug. 6 that the US would kill Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders believed to be hiding in Pakistan if it had "actionable intelligence." He refused to say whether he would first seek permission for an attack from Pakistan's president. Bush was speaking during a press conference at the presidential retreat, Camp David, with the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai. Bush has faced increasing criticism that Iraq has been a distraction and that he should have kept the focus on capturing Bin Laden and destroying the Taliban. Barack Obama, one of the Democratic front-runners in the 2008 presidential race, said last week that if he was president he would send US forces in to get Bin Laden if Musharraf failed to take action. His comments led to protests from the Pakistani government. In a sign of the Bush administration's increasing impatience with President Pervez Musharraf, it made public an intelligence report on July 17 saying that al-Qaida had established safe havens in Pakistan. Within two days, Musharraf launched a new military offensive, ending an agreement with tribal leaders that had angered Washington. Relations between Karzai and Gen Musharraf have also been strained, with the Afghan leader claiming repeatedly during the past year that Pakistan was providing a safe haven for the Taliban. The Pakistan government has denied this. Musharraf and Karzai were scheduled to meet in Kabul to try to reconcile their differences. But Musharraf canceled at the last moment due to international confusion concerning an imminent declaration of a national emergency which never materialized.