Posted on 10/29/2009 11:33:36 AM PDT by VRWCTexan
LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's said on Thursday it was "hard to believe" that no one in Pakistan's government knew where al Qaeda leaders were hiding, striking a new tone on a trip where Washington's credibility has come under attack.
Scores of al Qaeda leaders and their operatives, including Osama bin Laden, are believed to be in hiding in the rugged border territory that divides Pakistan and Afghanistan, but both countries routinely accuse the other of being the main sanctuary
"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 told a group of newspaper editors during a meeting in Lahore.
"Maybe they are not 'get-at-able'. I don't know," she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
"I am more than willing to hear every complaint about the United States," Clinton said, ""but this is a two way street.
“I am SICK AND TIRED of being told that questioning this Administration is Un-American!” /Beotch Mode Off
I think there was some adage about going to the Fire Station to find the arsonist. Maybe it’s the same people she is meeting, talking with that she calls friends?
Hildabeast needs to give her hubby, der Schlictmeister, a call and ask why he didn’t handle al queda and Bin Laden back in the 90’s.
Hey swarthy...Clinton is channeling us...:-)
Get past the Clinton hate for once........she said what several of us on this forum have been saying for years.....that Pakistan is double dealing and someone finally is calling them out.
IMO this is another loose her temper “Africa moment” and not a genuine turning point in somehow getting tough with Pakistan's double dealing
Her blow up came have having been challenged repeatedly:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2373656/posts
Clinton's Pakistan charm offensive rolled into a wall of suspicion ...
Some of the toughest questions centered on the Kerry-Lugar bill, a recent piece of U.S. legislation which aims to triple U.S. assistance to Pakistan to some $7 billion over the next five years, but which contains conditions which many Pakistanis regard as an affront to their sovereignty
What? I can’t enjoy the mocking of Hillary! every chance I get?
Wonder what she’d be sayin’ if say, a Conservative woman had her job right now?
She wouldn’t be saying what she said.
We’ve really gained the world’s respect since Zer0 ascended:
Dissing Pakistan
Dissing Czech Republic and Poland
Dissing Afghanistan leadership
Dissing Honduran free elections
Snubbing the UK prime minister
More?
Seems the ONE embraces
Saudi Arabia as he kneels to the keeper of Islam’s holiest shrine
Venezuela as he shows support for Chavez
Iran as he looks the other way when embattled freedome seekers try to be hear and keep from getting killed
Russia as he rewards Putin by icing the missle defense of Eastern Europe
China as he intentionally and rudely ignores the Dalai Lama at Beijing’s request
Does it not strike one as odd that our old enemies list is Zer0’s prefered partners now????
Hillary may be learning that the world is a complicated dangerous place.
She once criticized Bush for not being able “to find the tallest man in Afghanistan”, meaning Bin Laden, as he is 6 foot 5 inches. Now she’s learning some limitations when you have to work through other countries governments.
She’s not supposed to say that IN PUBLIC. She’s a DIPLOMAT now.
Her remarks to the reporters in Pakistan remind me of what she said to Petraeus, i.e., that his progress report on Iraq required "a willing suspension of disbelief."
“Does it not strike one as odd that our old enemies list is zero’s partners now?”
Maybe that was hildebeast was doing with that stupid reset button in russia.
“I could stand up here and say, ‘Let’s just get everybody together, let’s get unified, the sky will open, the light will come down, celestial choirs will be singing, and everyone will know we should do the right thing and the world will be perfect.” Hillary! - mocking Barack Obama
I’ll give her this one, LOL!
Hillary’s next stop is a visit to Israel, and a meeting with Bibi
By the time she’s done there, Israel will have decided it’s time to launch on Iran
“Well, the talk is that Hillary Clinton is going to try and help unite the party. She’s going to unite the party. But today Bill Clinton says, according to his experience, the party is usually over whenever Hillary shows up.” ~ Jay Leno
No mirrors in the 7th century.
Does anyone think Pakistan has figured that out?
The reality is that no one brings more cash to Pakistan than Bin Laden.
No, she didn't say that - that would have been diplomatic and coherent. Instead, she made a snippy wisecrack better suited for a in-group coffee klatch and embarrassed herself as being stupidly bitchy rather than professional.
And as for the hate - it comes from her 24/7/365, and has always been her only MO - she doesn't have anything else. Identifying her hateful and inept actions, on the other hand, is not itself hateful - it's registering appropriate disgust in a savagely vicious and pathetic loser, and refusing to be fooled by her endlessly perverse lies.
Uh oh, ole Hitlery must have missed the memo from Odumbo telling her to remember that it’s always our fault, no matter what, no matter where, no matter who.
Paging Hitlery. Paging Hitlery. Pick up the red courtesy phone. Rambo wants to talk with you.
Has Zero apologized to Al Qaeda for Mrs. Bill Clinton’s outburst?
Wow, the blind pig found an acorn; it happens every once in a while.
She took part in a televised media roundtable over there, and this was part of that exchange I believe. The Pakistani journos took it solidly to her, looks like she gave it back too.
Thing about Pakistan now is, if it descends into chaos, how the heck will we ever know :>>
The country’s under a virtual lockdown anyway.
In fact, the US media travelling with her were moved into trailers in the US Embassy compound rather than being allowed to stay at the Islamabad Serena. Don’t think the Marriott’s been rebuilt yet.
April 8th
Tensions emerge in Pakistan-US relations
The body language said it all.
The normally urbane and mild-mannered Pakistani Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, was firm and spoke in categorical terms.
Meanwhile, Richard Holbrooke chatted quietly with Admiral Mike Mullen - an act that, whatever the intention, was perceived as rude and contemptuous by those present.
The US special envoy and chairman of joint chiefs of staff were holding a press conference with Mr Qureshi after “frank” discussions.
There were two main bones of contention.
One was American missiles strikes carried out against suspected militants on Pakistani soil by unmanned drones. These are expected to continue and possibly increase, despite objections from Islamabad.
“We did talk about drones and let me be frank, there’s a gap between us and them,” Mr Qureshi told journalists.
American officials have implied that the government has given tacit agreement to a tactic which they say has eliminated al-Qaeda operatives and disrupted the group.
But the missiles also kill civilians and are deeply unpopular. Critics argue the strikes compound anti-Americanism, deepen resentment of the government and further destabilise the country.
Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper reported that the Americans were asked by government officials to transfer the drone technology and authority to the Pakistan Army. Adm Mullen dodged the question.
Mr Qureshi’s terse statement about the drone attacks reflects a solid consensus in both political and military circles against the policy, the latest of which was a statement by a parliamentary committee on national security that condemned the strikes in the “strongest terms” and demanded an immediate end to them.
The second bone of contention was what’s perceived here as an American “slander campaign” against Pakistan’s main military intelligence agency, the ISI.
Since the announcement of Mr Obama’s strategy, American generals have publicly voiced long-held suspicions that elements of the ISI are supporting some militants, including the Afghan Taleban.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7989236.stm
_________________________________________
Again all articles in the so called papers of record - NY Times - WaPo ahead of Hillary’s visit, stressed that she was going there (as Sec of State) to improve tense relations - not make them worse
>.not make them worse
Dunno if responding to aggressive journalists requires turning the other cheek but she didn’t, appropriate, IMO, since this was not a diplomatic conclave.
And what’s wrong with speaking the truth to the Pakistanis.
Bush gave them 11 Billion Dollars.
Obama is set to give 8 over the next few years.
That much cash allows you to to needle them, I believe.
Don’t get me wrong, I agree the Paki’s are double dealing and the US needs to be very firm -
However Hillary knows full well that in that region of the world, you take folks to task in private if you are really looking for a positive change in future behavior - rather than embarrassing them in public.
Only time will tell
Holbrooke has so throughly hacked off the Afgan gov’t that it was necessary to send in John Kerry to gain any traction for a re-vote -— and it appears that he has also not done the US much good in Pakistan ?
Yes, but this was a TV show and she got it from all sides.
Agree on the privacy of diplomacy, but this was in response to US ineffectiveness in finding and nailing Osama.
Pakistan was OK with Karzai, last thing they want is Abdullah from the old Northern Alliance in there.
Hence the total incompetence of the Obama strategy.
It does seem to have pissed everyone off, and accomplished nothing.
I can’t believe I am saying this but....... I wish we had democrats more like the Clintons and less like Obama and Pelosi.
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