ISLAMABAD – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton came face-to-face Friday with Pakistani anger over U.S. aerial drone attacks in tribal areas along the Afghan border, a strategy that U.S. officials say has succeeded in killing key terrorist leaders.
![[Students protest against the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in Lahore, Pakistan, Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009. Clinton is on a three-day state visit to Pakistan. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_toIlbZQlH5dW0mmT1yTidCbJySrnS8PXKU-Db17MqFPNoe2f_UbYyZwW0pXluZBwxBIXZwvs0NTPsH89tHH2svWSo80ZYVAxaUyM5sQ_TF_NxQFdfyPlI6CPu0wk9qziRmtgZIkojRmUBY-UAKbw=s0-d "hillary_pakistan_amx105.jpg")
In a series of public appearances on the final day of a three-day visit marked by blunt talk, Clinton refused to discuss the subject, which involves highly classified CIA operations. She would say only that “there is a war going on,” and the Obama administration is committed to helping Pakistan defeat the insurgents and terrorists who threaten the stability of a nuclear-armed nation.
Clinton said she could not comment on “any particular tactic or technology” used in the war against extremist groups in the area.
The use of Predator drone aircraft, armed with guided missiles, is credited by U.S. officials with eliminating a growing number of senior terrorist group leaders this year who had used the tribal lands of Pakistan as a haven beyond the reach of U.S. ground forces in Afghanistan.
During an interview broadcast live in Pakistan with several prominent female TV anchors, before a predominantly female audience of several hundred, one member of the audience said the Predator attacks amount to “executions without trial” for those killed.
Another asked Clinton how she would define terrorism.
“Is it the killing of people in drone attacks?” she asked. That woman then asked if Clinton considers drone attacks and bombings like the one that killed more than 100 civilians in the city of Peshawar earlier this week to both be acts of terrorism.
“No, I do not,” Clinton replied.
Tags: Pakistan, protest, terrorism, U.S. aerial drone attacks, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
1 comment:
During Secretary of State Clinton’s recent trip – her three day sojourn in Pakistan, she encountered something she does not generally encounter in her foreign travels: an angry group of young, literate and articulate Muslims who could express their opinions clearly in English. She was so shocked at their pointed questions about America’s policy regarding Pakistan that she was clearly at a loss for words. To their specific and provocative questions she gave evasive answers such as “There is a war going on.” And she said that she couldn’t answer some questions because the information was classified.
You did not mention what happened to her after she left Pakistan. She flew to Abu Dhabi to meet Mahmoud Abbas and to invite him to rejoin the stalled negotiation for peace. To his credit, Abbas turned down her invitation. He has refused to participate in the negotiation unless Israel froze all construction in the settlements. Mrs. Clinton was extremely shocked. From Abu Dhabi she went to Israel to meet Netanyahu. After a closed door meeting with Netanyahu, she held a joint press conference with him, and told the reporters that Israel was putting significant limits on settlement activity, and added this befuddled statement: “What the prime minister has offered... a restraint on the policy of settlements, which he has just described, no new starts, for example, is unprecedented in the context of prior to negotiations.” In other words, Netanyahu would build the recently approved (with Obama’s blessings) 3000 new housing units on land already confiscated from Palestinians, but at a slower pace. He will not start new settlements, but will only extend existing illegal settlements.
Does it mean that President Obama has finally decided to not press Israel to stop construction activities in the settlements? Will Palestinians be left with any contiguous land to establish their state?
Yesh Prabhu, Plainsboro, NJ
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