The two rivals described an “unstable” Pakistan as “extremely dangerous” for the world, but Biden went a step ahead saying its tribal areas and Afghanistan were the “central front” of the war on terror and not Iraq as projected by the Republicans.

The 65-year-old, known for his deft understanding of international relations especially in his capacity as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, warned that the next attack on the US is “going to come from al Qaeda planning in the hills of Afghanistan and Pakistan” and declared that he “will go after” terror mastermind Osama Bin Laden if there is “actual intelligence”.

Palin, a 44-year-old former beauty queen and Alaska governor, accused Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama of raising the a “white flag of surrender in Iraq” and called him naive and “dangerous” for saying he was willing to engage the leadership of Iran, North Korea and Cuba. “This is beyond bad judgment. This is dangerous,” she said.

Palin’s nomination as the first woman Republican vice presidential nominee a month ago electrified the John McCain camp but the enthusiasm gradually waned as her weak responses in television interviews exposed her inexperience.