By NNN-APP,
New York : US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Sunday called for dispatching more American troops to stabilize the “worsening” situation in Afghanistan where the Taliban insurgency was on the rise.
Reporting on his recent foreign trip, Obama said problems in Afghanistan were compounded by a weak government, which was unable to provide services to the people, and rampant drug trafficking that was hampering efforts to fight the militants.
“We have got to get Afghanistan right,” he told a convention of some 6,000 minority journalists in Chicago carried live by CNN. “In Afghanistan, things are worsening.”
In his opening remarks, Obama also said that the United States would have to get the government of Pakistan actively involved in combating the Taliban who have, what he called, safe havens in the tribal areas and who cross into Afghanistan and attack American troops.
Although he did not say so in the course of his interaction with minority journalists, Obama is expected to meet Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani during the Pakistani leader’s stay in Washington.
About Iraq, Obama said conditions in that war-raved country are improving. American troops, he added, have helped stabilize Iraq and consolidate political progress among that country’s factions.
He also expressed concern over Iran nuclear programme, saying there should be no nuclear arms race in the Middle East.
Asked why he gives the impression of being offended when some people call him a Muslim, he said he only tries to set the record straight. “I have repeatedly said that I am not a Muslim,” he said.
But he said the campaign to label him as a Muslim goes on. That campaign, in his opinion, reflected an anti-Muslim sentiment, not his denial of being a Muslim.
Obama said he had gone to some local mosques and met Muslim leaders, when asked why he had not been to a mosque when he made high-profile visits to Christian churches and Jewish synagoges.
He said his credentials on supporting Muslim-Americans are “very strong”. He also said he would be at the fore-front of defending the rights of Muslims.