Afghan front ‘central’ to terror war

By Carlotta Gall and Jeff Zeleny
in International Herald Tribune, 21 July 2008

Afghanistan must become "the central front" in the war on terror, Barack Obama said Sunday in the Afghan capital, sharpening his policy clash with John McCain over whether the war in Iraq has been a distraction from that effort.

Obama has pledged to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan and to focus more on terrorist sanctuaries in Pakistan.

"We have to understand that the situation is precarious and urgent here in Afghanistan, and I believe this has to be the central focus, the central front, in the battle against terorrism, " Obama said in an interview with CBS News.

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