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Clinton Terms Pakistani Response to Visit ‘Overwhelmingly Positive’

Dismissive Sloganeering 'Building a Stronger Base for Our Relationship'

by Jason Ditz, November 06, 2009

In an interview that seemed to gloss over the large number of outraged Pakistanis railing against American policy, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton termed her three day visit to Pakistan last week “overwhelmingly positive.”

Though her first comments in the wake of the visit were an exasperated claim that “we’re not getting through” to the Pakistanis, she insisted today that her comments, which amounted to little more than sloganeering, had succeeded in “building a stronger base for our relationship.”

Secretary Clinton moreover claimed that while Pakistanis “had this sort of pent-up frustration against the US,” she had remedied that because she “listened, understood and tried to convoy answers.”

During her visit, Pakistanis complained about the massive number of civilian deaths caused by US drone attacks. Clinton’s answer, such as it was, was that “there’s a war going on.” If that convinced anyone, it sure hasn’t shown in recent polls, as Pakistanis seem to blame the US more than any other single power as the source of the nation’s conflicts.