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Hillarysworld -> All things Hillary -> Hillary's new 'blank page' (The News 11/14/09)
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TOPIC: Hillary's new 'blank page' (The News 11/14/09)
Jen the Michigander


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Hillary's new 'blank page' (The News 11/14/09)
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An article from a Pakistani newspaper that does a good job of explaining their POV on US-Pakistani relations.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=208345

What successive US leaders over the past 60 years couldn't do, Hillary Clinton, during her first-ever visit to this country as secretary of state, has done. Despite the agitated mood in the country over the Kerry-Lugar Bill (KLB) issue, she managed to reach out to the people of Pakistan plunging into an unprecedented public diplomacy and communicating directly with a cross-section of our society. Her interaction with our media and the youth, in particular, was lively and frank and served a purpose that could not have been served by any set of officially in-laid "talking points" on either side.

Ms Clinton was not expecting the "hard talk" she had with our anchorpersons and students. She heard things that beguiled interlocutors in Islamabad's governmental cocoonery could not have dared say. One must give her credit for being patient in her town-hall meetings with outspoken audiences who represented the new self-assured face of Pakistan. She could not have had a better opportunity to respond to the concerns and apprehensions in Pakistani minds over the US role and activities in and around the country.

It was an unusual engagement in public diplomacy with no holds barred. Each side made its case well. The US secretary of state did her utmost to clear the overcast atmosphere of the last few months. On the KLB issue, she was blunt enough to tell her audiences that nobody was stuffing the aid package down their throats, and it was up to the people of Pakistan "to take it or leave it." The US Congress had passed the legislation in keeping with its normal procedures and the final law was meant only to serve the US national interests. It is now for us to understand that "beggars cannot be the choosers."

Ms Clinton must have seen how the people in Pakistan feel disturbed by their country being treated as America's traditional fall guy. They consider the US responsible for all their terrorism-related problems. They are concerned over the growing Indo-US nexus beginning with their defence and nuclear deals three years ago and now developing into a multi-dimensional strategic partnership with ominous implications for the critical balance of power in the region and for Pakistan's legitimate security interests.

Somehow, our people also blame the US for invariably being on the wrong side in their traditional power struggle in the arena of domestic politics. They see US footprints in most "constitutional subversions" and "judicial circumventions" in this country, and an invisible role in our shadowy political deals including the notorious NRO. Our dictators, civilian or non-civilian, have always been Washington's blue-eyed boys.

On a lighter side, Ms Clinton perhaps didn't notice that her visit to Lahore did bring an instant change. Governor Salman Taseer while receiving her took off his dark glasses only to show her that he too has blue eyes. Whatever his motive, without the dark glasses, he now at least sees the world with his real eyes.

But for Ms Clinton's US, Pakistan must mean its real people, not the chintzy class of its money-gulping and land-grabbing ruling politico-bureaucratic elite. To endure and flourish, the US-Pakistan equation must be based on sovereign equality and mutual respect. Our people may resent US power and its overbearing conduct but not its ideals of liberty, justice and democracy which they want for themselves too. Washington's new focus must be on the people rather than the corrupt ruling elite who have always abused this relationship for their own self-serving purposes.

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freespirit


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Great article. I recall seeing Musharraf (sp) interviewed after the U.S. began fighting in Afghanistan. I recall he said something like- Bush's wh had told him the Pakistani gov't had better cooperate with the U.S., or the country would be obliterated. Not exact words, but close. Obviously, there's no way to know if Musharraf was telling the truth. But, there was some obvious resentment way back then.

I'm glad that Hillary was candid and real with the Pakistani audiences. Her sincerity and her respect for the people of Pakistan must have been obvious and genuine for her to have impressed them as she did. So proud of her.

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Jen the Michigander


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Hillary's willingness to answer tough questions from ordinary citizens is also having a positive effect. It's as if everywhere she goes, there are rooms full of Bill O'Reillys waiting to interrogate her. And every time she goes through with it, she earns their respect.

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