Asking Hillary Clinton to wage a “Charm Offensive” is like asking Dracula to smile. As soon as the vampire opens his mouth on can see his blood sucking teeth. Similarly Mrs. Clinton cannot help herself. She thinks herself as the paragon of all truth whereas the “little brown boys” are diabolical, mischievous, dirty, unscrupulous and lie all the time. Ask her any question and her paradigmic bias gets her into trouble. The two events that were supposed to ring her in touch with the Pakistani people were total fiascos. She might as well have stayed home. Rupee News actually wrote an article on this subject—if she was going to repeat her Anti-Pakistani rhetoric, she might as well as stay on the Potomac and not face the blowback from her klutzy comments.
Here is a Telegraph which correctly defines the situation.
Her visit was intended in part as a charm offensive in a country steeped in anti-American sentiment.
Pakistanis seem utterly uncertain whether the US is a friend or foe. Recognising the problem of "misperception", Mrs Clinton's visit has focused on trying to put the US message directly to the people of Pakistan, rather than the usual routine of meeting top officials.
But the PR blitz appeared to have little effect on entrenched public opinion that blames the US for Pakistan's extremist menace. By Saeed Shah in Islamabad, Published: 6:41PM GMT 30 Oct 2009. Hillary Clinton faces angry criticism of US in Pakistan
If the Secretary of State expected a group of stereotypical docile and suppressed women whom she could lecture away—then Mrs. Clinton surely she would have been surprised by the audience—she got an earful from angry Pakistani women.
An interview with several women who are prominent Pakistani television anchors, broadcast live, turned into a pointed, sometimes raucous back-and-forth…as they parried with Mrs. Clinton. They criticized American drone strikes in Pakistan, said the military presence was stirring unrest and expressed their doubts about whether the United States had a long-term commitment to Pakistan. New York Times. By MARK LANDLER and JACK HEALY. Published: October 30, 2009
Mrs. Clinton did not hold an open press conference where the Pakistani media could have rally asked her some questions. The harbinger of democracy shied away from the Pakistani press. The US press has given wide coverage to the Hillary interaction which was supposed to be stage managed and choreographed.
The UK Guardian reported the following questions.
One tribal leader who met her yesterday said afterwards he was impressed. But in a television interview later, one woman in the audience said the drones amounted to "executions without trial".
Another asked Clinton if she considered drone strikes to be an act of terrorism similar to the bombing that killed over 100 people in Peshawar on Wednesday. Declan Walsh in Islamabad.guardian.co.uk, Friday 30 October 2009 18.37 GMT. Hillary Clinton wraps up tough mission in Pakistan
The New York Times reported the following questions that were asked of the Secretary of State—who still holds to the wrong notions about Pakistan—fed to her by her incompetent generals who are looking for excuses for their colossal defeat in Afghanistan
- One of the women said that Pakistanis were experiencing “daily 9/11’s,” and an audience member asked Mrs. Clinton whether the drone strikes amounted to acts of terrorism.
- “Your presence in the region is not good for peace,” one of the men in attendance told Mrs. Clinton, according to The Associated Press, “because it gives rise to frustration and irritation among the people of this region.”
- Why did the United States abandon Pakistan after the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan, they asked.
- Why did the Bush administration support the previous military government of Gen. Pervez Musharraf? What about reports in the Pakistani news media that American contractors illegally carried weapons in Islamabad? Even her fans have come armed with spears.
- A young woman, a medical student, thanked Mrs. Clinton for being an inspiration to women, then asked how the United States could justify ordering Predator strikes on targets in Pakistan without sharing intelligence with its military. New York Times. By MARK LANDLER and JACK HEALY. Published: October 30, 2009
Mrs Clinton was silent about the drone attacks
The CIA-operated drone strikes have been enthusiastically embraced by the Obama administration, which considers them a key tool in disabling al-Qaida's ability to plot attacks from its tribal safehaven.
The US has carried out over 80 strikes since 2006, half of them since the start of this year. One such strike last August killed the Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.
But the civilian casualties inflicted by the drone strikes, and the perceived infringement of sovereignty, enrages most Pakistanis. The attacks enjoy only 9% support, according to a Gallup poll taken last August.
The level of civilian casualties is hotly disputed. But one recent study by the New America Foundation estimated that US drones have killed between 750 around 1,000 people in Pakistan since 2006, about one third of them civilians.
The deep public hostility to drones feeds latent anti-Americanism and leaves the Pakistani government in a difficult position. The Guardian
The Daily Telegraph reported the following:
Mrs Clinton was again pushed on to the defensive. One tribesman told her: "Your presence in the region is not good for peace".
A day earlier, in a session with students in the eastern city of Lahore, America's top diplomat was told by a student: "The US has betrayed Pakistan. That's a fact."
However the comments of a journalist, Asma Shirazi, during an interview broadcast live on Friday typified the strength of criticism Mrs Clinton faced.
"We are fighting a war that is imposed on us. It's not our war. It is your war," said the journalist.
"You had one 9/11. We are having daily 9/11s in Pakistan." By Saeed Shah in Islamabad, Published: 6:41PM GMT 30 Oct 2009. Hillary Clinton faces angry criticism of US in Pakistan
In a meeting with selected Pakistani journalists she went bonkers, way out in left field, when she said strange hallucinating stuff (perhaps a hangover from her hippy days in “Arkansaw”. Pig Soee (how they call the hogs in Arkansas—and also the University sports chant), but were are not in Kanasas anymore Toto. Her words about “if Pakistan wants to shrink her territory” will ring in the ears of the people of Pakistan for a long time. He silly comments about the Pakistani leadership knowing the whereabouts of the Al-Qaeda leaderships certainly didn’t sit well with the Pakistani government and Army. Reports say that these two issues were brought up during the meeting with Chief of Army Staff Kiyan and the ISI Chief Pasha.
ISLAMABAD – Addressing a roomful of Pakistani women Friday afternoon at the National Art Gallery here, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made every effort to connect with her audience. But after enduring multiple security checks and waiting over four hours for the secretary to arrive, most women left unimpressed.
“Frankly, it was a waste of my time,” said one assistant professor from the Fatima Jinnah Women’s University (FJWU) in Rawalpindi, who asked not to be named. “[Clinton] wasn’t interested in hearing the about the layman’s problems or the reality of our daily lives.”
That caused many, such as Shazia Marri, the information minister of the Sindh province, to leave the meeting frustrated that their concerns were not heard. “Emancipated women in Pakistan have a clear point of view that did not come across,” she said.
The local media has described Mrs. Clinton’s three-day visit to Pakistan as a “charm offensive.” Her town-hall meeting with female activists, lawyers, journalists, parliamentarians, and businesswomen from across the country was meant to conclude the trip on a high note, particularly in the wake of Wednesday’s car bomb attack on a Peshawar market that killed 117 – mostly women.
In her interactions with Pakistani women, Clinton tried to engage in personal-level diplomacy. Explaining how the US would support democracy in Pakistan, Clinton discussed the importance of “habits of the heart,” such as tolerance and compromise, which could be ingrained within families and by teachers in schools. Addressing concerns about aid delivery, she described how the US government organized a team of female Pakistani-American doctors to treat internally displaced women. And in a rare digression, she reminisced about an exchange of family photographs with the late former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Clinton attempted a relaxed manner, with an aside about having a Pakistani roommate. But her jokes about visiting Pakistan and not discussing security for once failed to win over the crowd. Pakistani women – much like the country’s youth and professionals, whom Clinton met in similar meetings in Lahore on Thursday – seemed more keen on discussing security issues. The questions that met with most applause from the audience were on US drone attacks, alleged American designs on Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, and whether the US intended to pressure India to settle the long-standing Kashmir conflict.
Several audience members said Clinton’s answers did little to allay their concerns or skepticism. “The responses were as expected,” added Ameena Saiyid, the managing director of Oxford University Press. Christian Science Monitor. In Pakistan, Clinton fails to charm professional women By Huma Yusuf | Correspondent 10.30.09
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tried to stage manage the message, and apparently it backfired. The blowback from arrogance and hubris can be significant. One only has to look at Tehran, next door. There was a time when the US Ambassador thought himself the Viceroy of Iran, and ran the country like his personal fiefdom. The Iranian Revolution was the obvious result of this sort of micromanagement. History shows that the “Uglay American” image led to the Cuban Revolution, the Chinese Communist takeover and the radicalization of the the Middle East and the October Revolution in Russia. Venezuela is also a prime example of a country sick and tired of being meddled in. Today Ms. Clinton heard first had what Pakistanis think. She should have been on a listening mode. She was on a lecturing mood. Pakistanis, as evidenced by the Christian Scient Monitor report are not in the mood to listen to lectures.
Many women, including Zainab Azmat, a resident of the South Waziristan tribal agency, currently lecturing at Peshawar’s Institute of Management Sciences (IMS), complained that Clinton’s answers were too “reserved.” Ms. Azmat added that the intention of the meeting was unclear. “Why were we here? What did they want us to ask? What did they want to convey to us?” she asked.
It didn’t help that many women objected to the format of the discussion, which was moderated by five female news anchors. Before Clinton arrived, one State Department representative explained that the format aimed to imitate the popular talk show, ‘The View.’
But it seems the women were not all convinced that the show is what the meeting most closely mirrored. “This meeting was as micromanaged as our country’s internal affairs,” quipped the FJWU professor. “[The Americans] were trying to retain the upper-hand in the conversation.”
Fariel Salahiddin, a financial consultant with Ministry of Information, still found the visit valuable, however. It is “admirable that Clinton is making this effort to reach out,” she said. Christian Science Monitor. In Pakistan, Clinton fails to charm professional women By Huma Yusuf | Correspondent 10.30.09
Here carefully crafted message of “love” fell apart when as soon as she opened her mouth.
"Al Qaeda has had safe haven in Pakistan since 2002," she told a group of Pakistani journalists Thursday. "I find it hard to believe that nobody in your government knows where they are and couldn't get them if they really wanted to." She added, "Maybe they're not gettable. I don't know." Hillary Clinton Talking to Pakistani journalists—also reported by CNN. Secretary of state urges openness between U.S., Pakistan. October 30, 2009 -- Updated 1600 GMT (0000 HKT)
This is exactly the kind of verbiage that ruffles Pakistani feathers and acts as a catalyst to increase Anti-Americanism in Pakistan. The use of the wording “safe havens” is a very unwise choice of words. It depicts connivance and complicity between Pakistani officials and the terrorists. Obviously the there is no such complicity—as evidenced by the assassination of the Education minister and the bloody attacks in Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar. To suggest any sort of liason with the murderers and thgus is silly and counterproductive.
In the CNN interview Friday, Clinton said she was not suggesting that someone inside the government might be complicit with al Qaeda or might be failing to follow through in fighting the terrorist group.
"No, no," she said. "What I was responding to is what I have been really doing on this trip, which is there exists a trust deficit, certainly on the part of Pakistanis toward the United States, toward our intentions and our actions. And yet we have so much in common, we face a common threat. We certainly have a common enemy in extremism and terrorism, and so part of what I have been doing is answering every single charge, every question." Secretary of state urges openness between U.S., Pakistan. October 30, 2009 -- Updated 1600 GMT (0000 HKT)
Mrs. Clinton did seem to backtrack, after the bloodhounds of CNN cornered her. However instead of apologizing for the bad choice of words, she fell into the trap of justifying her comments and became very defensive. She forgot where she was—all in plain sight of the Pakistanis. She forgets that CNN is watched and heard in Islamabad also. Her message to her domestic constituency in America was seen as a horrible message in Pakistan.
Trust "is a two-way street," she added. While Pakistan's military operation has been "extremely courageous in both Swat and now in South Waziristan, success there is not sufficient," she said. "... I just want to keep putting on the table that we have some concerns as well. And I think ... that's the kind of relationship I'm looking to build here."
Asked whether she had underestimated the level of anti-American sentiment in Pakistan, Clinton said, "No, because I've been following the research and the polling that's gone on for a couple of years. I knew that we were inheriting a pretty negative situation that we were going to have to address." That's why she wanted three days in the country, "a long trip for a secretary of state," she said.
"I wanted to demonstrate that, look, we are not coming here claiming that everything we've done is perfect. I've admitted to mistakes by our country going back in time, but I've also reminded people that we've been partners and allies from the beginning of Pakistan's inception as a country. Pakistan has helped us on several important occasions, and we are very grateful for that. So let's begin to clear the air here."
The Obama Administration has to make some serious changes, if it wants the US point of view and the American message to reach the Pakistani people. Congressmen Charlie Wilson and Rohrabacker were able to get through a positive and helpful message. Congressman Findley is well respected in Pakistani circles. President Reagan’s son may conjure up positive images of an era which bode well for Pakistani-American relations. Pakistanis in general had great hopes for Mr. Obama’s message of change. They are dissappointd by the rise in drone attacks—which blowback as bombs on Pakistani civilians. Mr. Obama may still have some equity left—but time is running out. A Pakistani revolution would sweep up the complaint leaders, just like the Shah of Iran and make Islamabad as inhospitable for Americans Tehran is for the US right now.
No comments:
Post a Comment