Oct 30, 2009

Hillary Clinton wraps up tough mission in Pakistan


Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, talks to tribesmen from Pakistan's north-western areas in Islamabad. Photograph: EPA/AP of Pakistan

The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, wrapped up one of the toughest missions of her diplomatic career tonight after three days of bruising encounters with Pakistanis enraged by US drone attacks in the tribal areas.

The visit was never going to be easy for Clinton, who flew into Islamabad with the goal of blunting anti-Americanism in a country that seethes with hostility towards Washington.



In meetings with journalists, students and other leaders she came armed with a determined smile and a willingness to engage that disarmed even strident opponents. On the drones, she had no answer.

Time and again Pakistanis pressed her about the covert missile strikes by Predator or Reaper aircraft that have killed up to 1,000 people since 2006, according to one estimate.

"I can't answer that question," she told students in Lahore, according to one guest present. "It's a military to military matter."

The CIA-operated drone strikes have been embraced by the Obama administration, which considers them a key tool in disabling al-Qaida's ability to plot attacks from its tribal haven.

The US has carried out over 80 strikes since 2006, half of them since the start of this year. One such strike last August killed the Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.

Civilian casualties and the perceived infringement of sovereignty enrage most Pakistanis. The attacks enjoy only 9% support, according to a Gallup poll taken last August.

The level of civilian casualties is hotly disputed. But one recent study by the New America Foundation estimated that US drones have killed between 750 around 1,000 people in Pakistan since 2006, about one third of them civilians.

The deep public hostility to drones feeds latent anti-Americanism and leaves the Pakistani government in a difficult position. Although ministers publicly criticise the strikes, their officials privately assist the American spies and military officials who orchestrate them.

Analysts said Clinton's folksy but steel-edged charm worked well in public meetings - particularly in comparison with the more blunt style of Washington's envoy to the region, Richard Holbrooke. "In a bad situation she put up a sterling performance," said one.

One tribal leader who met her said afterwards he was impressed. But in a television interview later, one woman in the audience said the drones amounted to "executions without trial". Another asked Clinton if she considered drone strikes to be an act of terrorism similar to the bombing that killed more than 100 people in Peshawar on Wednesday. "No I do not," Clinton replied.

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