Was Clinton too verbally hard on Pakistan?

Fri, 05/08/2009 - 9:55am

Hillary Clinton, April 22, 2009

Over at FP's Shadow Government blog ("notes from the loyal opposition"), some people think Secretary Clinton laid the smack down too hard:

  • Peter Feaver thinks that when Clinton said the Pakistani government was "abdicating" to the Taliban, she stated her views "undiplomatically."
  • My colleague Christian Brose thinks Clinton should be holding her tongue when it comes to publicly criticizing Pakistan.

As a woman, does Clinton feel pressure to come on hard and tough? If she hadn't spoken out when the Taliban were a mere 60 miles from the Pakistani capital, would some have perceived her as too soft?

I'm pressed for time today, unfortunately, so here's one more link and Secretary Clinton's schedule:

  • "Obama-Clinton proves a winning team" (CNN.com)

11:30 a.m. Signing Ceremony with His Excellency Cristian Diaconescu, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania

Photo: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images

Preeti Aroon | Permalink | | Comments? Login or register
( filed under: )


Advertisement

 

Give me a break. Is this a

by hrc2012 on Fri, 05/08/2009 - 11:06am

Give me a break. Is this a comment from a man who feels threatened by a tough, smart and enormously popular SoS?
The fact that Hillary said what she said was likely the impetus for the Pakistan govt finally starting to take on the Taliban. She got the desired result by well placed and strategic comments. She should be congratulated, not used as the subject of ill thought out criticism.

I suspect Hillary and Obama

by Carolyn-Rodham on Fri, 05/08/2009 - 12:10pm

I suspect Hillary and Obama have a bad cop-good cop deal going. She smacks down Cheney, Pakistan, whoever, he maintains the high road.

bad cop - good cop

by Karenmb on Sat, 05/09/2009 - 5:16pm

Hey, this sounds very similar to his campaign style. BO looked like the boy scout, but man oh man, was there some Chicago style shenanigans going on in the background...at his urging no less.

Oh please

by B. Elli Cose on Fri, 05/08/2009 - 3:58pm

First of all, after eight years of the Texan Cowboy and his ilk (John Bolton comes to mind as a former U.N. Ambassador) it strains credibility to find the GOP--the GOP!--whining about undiplomatic foreign policy. This is a bit rich coming from the party that gave us "freedom fries." Also, while we're talking about U.S.-Pakistan relations, let's not forget the Bush Administration's (alleged) threat to "bomb Pakistan back to the Stone Age."**

Now, having said that, Zardari clearly does need a smack-down. He's kept himself busy knocking back Scotch in his office, holding his hand out for the next bribe (there's a reason he was known as "Mr. 10%"), and cowering under the table whenever General Kiyani comes a-visitin'. This is not to say that the nation-state of Pakistan is truly in danger of collapsing or that "the next two weeks are critical" for the country's survival, but simply that extremism/fanaticism does represent a serious threat to Pakistan and its neighbors--and that, consequently, Zardari's apparent aspiration to be a modern-day Nero is probably not the need of the hour. Ergo, kudos to Secretary Clinton for kicking some ass!

**One could, of course, argue that it was not really that undiplomatic to threaten to bomb Pakistan back to the Stone Age. After all, some would say that this would only have set Pakistan back a decade or so.

Thank goodness for Hillary

by Karenmb on Sat, 05/09/2009 - 5:19pm

I know Hillary loves this country, and I feel soooo much safer knowing she's an integral part of the team. Thank goodness for Hillary!

This is nothing new for

by Still4Hill on Sun, 05/10/2009 - 6:29pm

This is nothing new for Hillary so I don't see why it is suddenly an issue. She IS a tough talker. She always has been. It's not some kind of ploy to appear any particular way. This is Hillary. It's one of the many, MANY things we love about her. She's a tough little cookie - and a smart one, too!

Hillary is as smart as they

by randymk1 on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 9:24pm

Hillary is as smart as they come....

She knows very well what she is saying as SOS.

And I for one, firmly believe she is correct in the manner in which she chose to communicate the State Department's and the Administration's view on the subject.

It's refreshing to see an American of Hillary's caliber representing the interests of our government. We are blessed to have her as the SOS.

This whole gender based argument is ignorant... Give me the best politically positioned, internationally coherent, and intellectually balanced individual we can find... Fortunately, America chose correctly.

Having Hillary as SOS is like having a multitude of erotic engagements in every pleasurable position imaginable without the worry of getting infected... :-)

Yeah, she's that kind of brilliant.