Clinton Threatens Pakistan With ‘Unilateral’ Moves Over Haqqani Network

Another Diplomatic Visit Decays Into Open Threats

Yesterday officials were talking about the importance of “pulling out all the stops” as several top US officials arrived in Pakistan to press the Pakistani government on the Haqqani Network. It was not the first time top officials were sent to Pakistan on a vital mission, but all previous trips ended in failure, with US officials loudly condemning Pakistan and threatening the government.

Today, the current trip appears to have suffered the same fate, as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Pakistan would pay a “big price” if they continued to ignore US demands, and threatened unspecified “unilateral” acts.

Officials say the meetings lasted around four hours, and included both Pakistan’s top military commander Gen. Parvez Kayani and the ISI chief Lt. General Ahmed Shuja Pasha. They reportedly ended with a promise to meet again Friday and to not discuss the situation in between.

Pakistani officials slammed Secretary Clinton for her threats, saying they did not help with the atmosphere of the extremely important Friday talks. It seems that as usual, however, the US is preparing for the talks to fail and for another opportunity to condemn Pakistan. Some officials just jumped the gun on their longstanding policy.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.