Drones Over Pakistan
30 October 2009 5:00 pm by Taylor Marsh
Incoming, and I’m not just talking about drones in Pakistan. Clinton faced a tough crowd with even tougher questions over U.S. policy of using CIA drone attacks. From the AP:
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton came face-to-face Friday with Pakistanis’ simmering anger over U.S. aerial drones firing missiles in their country. She drew back slightly from her blunt remarks suggesting Pakistani officials know where terrorists are hiding.
[...] ”Is it the killing of people in drone attacks?” she asked. That woman then asked if Clinton considers drone attacks and bombings like the one that killed more than 100 civilians in the city of Peshawar earlier this week to both be acts of terrorism.
”No, I do not,” Clinton replied.
Another man told her bluntly: ”Please forgive me, but I would like to say we’ve been fighting your war.”
Unless the Pakistanis believe this is their war too, we’re, well, screwed.
Read Jane Mayer’s piece on drones (now online) if you haven’t already. There is a lot of criticism about U.S. drone policy, but where we can’t go what’s the alternative? The Pakistani army has to step up.
Clinton also gave an interview to Andrea Mitchell, who asked about Pres. Obama’s mission to Dover AFB, as well as our involvement in Afghanistan.
ANDREA MITCHELL: A terrible toll. The President took the unusual step of going in the middle of the night to Dover for that very solemn ceremony. What would – what do you think that signifies, and what would you say if you had the opportunity, as you have in the past, to the families of those 18 soldiers who made this ultimate sacrifice?
SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, I really am grateful that the President went, because he did it not only in his – out of his personal concern, but because he does represent our country and the people of our country who are deeply saddened by the loss of the lives of our young men and women who are serving in Afghanistan.
I would say, as I have said on many occasions, both privately and publicly, that their sacrifice is in the great and honorable tradition of those who have gone before them, because they truly are the very best we have in our country. And they are committed to serving our nation in the most dangerous and difficult mission that we are now pursuing. But that their sacrifice is part of what we are trying to achieve. And so it is something that should be honored. It is something that every American should be grateful for.
That doesn’t in any way answer the loss and the pain and the grief that their loved ones and the rest of us feel about these losses. But I have no doubt in my mind that they are fighting for their country in a faraway place for very big stakes.
Sect. Clinton is taking a very public and visible trip to the most critical foreign policy arenas on Pres. Obama’s plate. No envoys here.
Middle East peace is next:
Clinton also commented on Iran, as the United States seeks clarification on whether the nation will agree to a deal brokered by the International Atomic Energy Agency aimed at resolving a dispute about Iran’s nuclear program. “I am going to let the process play out, but clearly we are working to determine exactly what they are willing to do,” Clinton said.
The secretary made a vow to Israeli and Palestinian leaders during the CNN interview as well. “We’re going to do everything we can to try to clear away whatever concerns that the parties have, to actually get them into negotiations where they then can thrash out all of these difficult issues,” she said.
