Posted on 10/30/2009 12:29:51 AM PDT by Schnucki
WASHINGTON: It was supposed to be a charm offensive, but as the day wore on she put away her charm and went on the offensive. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s public dressing down of Pakistan during a three-day visit there, including virtually accusing the country of complicity with al-Qaida, has shaken Washington as much as it stunned her hosts.
"Her inner voice became her outer voice," Martha Raddatz, a veteran NBC correspondent said on the network, explaining that while many in the administration believed what she said to be true (that Pakistan is coddling terrorists), it was rare for America's top diplomat to say it publicly. Officials in Washington were trying to keep a straight face, but there were a few gasps, she added.
Clinton's blunt remarks came during a pow-wow with half-dozen combative senior Pakistani journalists who harried her about US policy in the region.
"Al-Qaida has had safe haven in Pakistan since 2002," she finally asserted when challenged about Washington’s tough prescriptions for Islamabad. "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."
After having publicly doubted the bona fides of her hosts, she added, as an afterthought: "Maybe that's the case; maybe they're not gettable...I don't know. As far as we know, they are in Pakistan." At one point during the exchanges, when a journalist spoke about all the services rendered by Pakistan for the US, Mrs Clinton snapped, "We have also given you billions."
The US Secretary of State also took a swipe at the Pakistani military and intelligence agencies, telling the senior journalists, "If we are going to have a mature partnership where we work together" then "there are issues that not just the United States but others have with
(Excerpt) Read more at timesofindia.indiatimes.com ...
While I don't mind that particular style of blunt diplomacy, it's usually done in private, not in public, and, further, I don't think that the Kenyan Clown has the intestinal fortitude to carry out the concomitant equally blunt military and economic strategies needed to pull it off.
Timing is bad, with them actually accomplishing things lately, but they love this administration so she has some leeway.
WOW.
Give ‘em hell, Hillary! I’ve been thinking the exact same things for quite some time, and I don’t even like her.
Ping.
It was done in public because Hillary wanted America to witness her asserting more strength and leadership than Obama. It was very calculated. Hillary is going to challange Obama in 2012.
Bwahahaha! Yeah, that’s the sweet little Hillary that Bill knows and loves.... For once, I’m on her side. (I can’t believe I just wrote that.) If John Bolton had said the same thing, we’d be cheering him.
I’d say that she showed who has the balls in that family.
BUT,,, The big trouble with the “diplomacy by journalist” approach is that they seldom get the facts right on the first, (or second), try. And, what language were they conversing in?
So why did her boss recently give billions of dollars to them??
or the desire.I doubt he sees any need for it.
I believe I agree with you. It is time this Muslim nation cracked down on what it knows about those provinces bordering on Afghanistan. If it takes a little public humiliation, so be it. These folks have been doing the weasel dance far too long. OTOH the comment about the administration not having what it takes to back up Hillary, does play into the situation.
bookmark
Interesting take, and you may be right. The big question then is does Hillary really think this way about Pakistan and American foreign policy, or is this just another Clinton-type calculated political move?
It is really, really hard to believe that hillary would EVER admit to this!
Well, it's amusing, but like everything Klintoonian, I have a suspicion that her eruption was a calculated breakout move, intended to explode the anaconda coils The Magic Negro has wrapped around her.
On another level, I'm guessing she's just tired of being Obama's poodle b?tch, sitting around waiting in Obama's poodle-hareem for Barack Pasha to decide she's in heat at last.
At yet another level, I think she also got tired of being b&tch-slapped and dissed by a bunch of punk grad students like the ones whose lunch she used to take away from them every day at Wellesley. So she just rose up and clobbered them -- lol! Nuthin' like pointing out the Screamingly Obvious to the reality-oblivious for cheap entertainment, lol.
Very diplomatic of you, Martha! lol -- I'm sure you'd like to be invited to join all the other kids for the plane ride home, lolol!!
Talk about intimidated .....
There she goes again, Mount Hillary erupting. Hillary blows, Washington, D.C. gasps.
EGO, jealousy, and revenge. She’s not gotten over losing and knows
now ZerO is in danger of being a one termer. She’s going to tank him.
She’ll be forced out mid term and may think about a challenge. Regardless, the clintons do not like losing. We may see a Palin-Clinton
race yet.
Poor Barry, how will he ever recover from the shame she has brought on him?
If the economy hasn’t driven unemployment below 8%, she absolutely will.
Probably both. I've always thought Hillary to be a little more hawkish towards foreign policy than many of her opponents give her credit and this was a perfect opportunity to act assertive and confident, "presidential" if you will, something Obama has yet to do.
Could you clarify? Anyway, I was good til this “We (the United States) tax everything that moves and doesn’t move, and that’s not what we see in Pakistan.” Yep Tax Everything!
Well to determine that, you'd have to find something the Clinton's ever did - ever - that wasn't a calculated political move, for comparison.
Good luck.
First of all everyone needs to be reminded that it’s pronounced pa-kee-ston.
Second, if they’ve been hiding Al Queda since 2002 that means W had a valid excuse for not finding him. It’s Pakistan’s fault!
Boy, wouldn't that be something? Like a scene out of The Natural, with Barbara Hershey all in black squaring off nose-to-nose with Glenn Close all in white.
Not in English. Just like Bombay is Bombay not Mumbai, in English. Just like New York is Nueva Jork in Puerto Rican and Mexican Spanish, and scenic Firenze is Florence in English. And Houston is "Hoose-ton" south of the Rio Grande. Which is the Rio Grande, not the Rio Bravo del Norte, just like the United States is the United States, not El Norte or "Aztlan".
shes acting Presidential and completely at odds with her bosses wimpiness. This will start the,will Hillary run? questions again.
You go, girl!!! I think I hurt myself agreeing with something she said.
I have always found Hillary Clinton to be offensive...
Still running for office; I see.
It never left.
After all these years, the Witch of the West finally does something right- she told the truth.
“It was very calculated. Hillary is going to challange Obama in 2012.”
I agree.
Kick ‘em in the ass, Hill
I think you have found the kernel of truth here — Hillary is clearly feeling left out and out of sorts with Obama. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a challenge mounted. Look for her to resign before too long, so she can run for governor of NY or some-such to get ready for 2012.
Bam! Its about damn time someone told those neanderthals the truth.
“On another level, I’m guessing she’s just tired of being Obama’s poodle b?tch, sitting around waiting in Obama’s poodle-hareem for Barack Pasha to decide she’s in heat at last.”
Hell, at this time Madeleine Albright is getting more TV coverage than Hillary. Must be tough to take.
I bet Michael Jackson Sr in the White House swallowed his gum when he heard Hillary busting on his buddies in AQ.
“No. They are just misunderstood. If we try to be friends with them, they will stop”.
I’ve been wondering about that. She can’t be too happy either that Plugs and Lurch and assorted others have gotten more foreign policy press than she. Obama’s consistently undermined her position IMHO. I think either he’s very stupid and doesn’t know what the SoS job is, or he’s very spiteful and is purposefully minimizing the SoS job.
She also insulted the former President while on foreign soil.
Must be contagious.
Why are old lesbians always so angry?
Pray for America’s Freedom
I think you’re right Drew. For it to work though, she has to step up her “manliness” to draw a sharper contrast with Zero but eventually quit the administration. She’s have more to work with as a former administration official (whistleblower perhaps?) who is challenging Zero’s ineptitude.
Timing will be key though. If she stays too long as SoS, she can be lumped in with the Obama administration and will be brought down by them.
I was thinking of the scene in which Hershey's character comes to Roy's rooming-house dressed for mourning and wearing a big hat that makes her look a little bit like a well-developed belladonna mushroom.
In the stadium scene in which Glenn Close's character stands up to support Roy as he struggles on the field, iirc she's wearing white.
Bad witch / Good witch. I thought it an interesting complication loaded with Message ... and that was before I found out the script is based on a novel by Bernard Malamud.
As much as I hate to admit it I liked the way she stated the obvious publicly. Now Herr Obama probably doesn't like her dressing down "POCK-ISTAN" because of his desire to be ruler of the world but this is kind of nice.
Not very Diplomatic of a United States Diplomat...
Geraldo is already out doing damage control, lol.
Her hosts made sure the lamps were removed before the meeting.
Obama, Biden, Hillary, Reid, Pelosi—with each passing day, it is like we have fallen down a rabbit hole.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Dingggg!
Let's give you credit for getting it right in two.
Slight emendation, though: He's not minimizing SoS -- he's just minimizing Hillary!
(And Slick .... )
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