E-mail
Print
Islamabad, Pakistan -
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton faced sharp rebukes from Pakistani audiences Friday, including one woman who accused the U.S. of conducting "executions without trial" in aerial drone strikes.
Clinton questioned Pakistan's commitment to fighting terrorists.
"Somebody, somewhere in Pakistan, must know where these people are," she said in an exchange almost as blunt as her exasperated remarks a day earlier that Pakistan lacked the will to target Al Qaeda.
Her stormy three-day visit, rocked at the start by a terrorist blast in Peshawar that killed more than 100 Pakistanis, revealed clear signs of strain between the two nations despite months of public insistence that they were on the same wavelength in the U.S.-declared war on terrorism.
During a live broadcast of an interview before a predominantly female audience of several hundred, one woman asked Clinton how she would define terrorism.
"Is it the killing of people in drone attacks?" the woman asked. Then she asked whether Clinton considered both the U.S. missile strikes and militant bombings like the one in the city of Peshawar earlier in the week as acts of terrorism.
"No, I do not," Clinton replied.
Another man said bluntly: "Please forgive me, but I would like to say we've been fighting your war."
Clinton faced sharp questions about the secret U.S. program that uses unmanned aircraft to launch missiles to kill terrorists along the porous, lawless border with Afghanistan.
Asked repeatedly about the drones, a subject that involves highly classified CIA operations, Clinton said only that "there is a war going on." She added that the Obama administration is committed to helping Pakistan defeat the insurgents.
Clinton questioned Pakistan's commitment to fighting terrorists.
"Somebody, somewhere in Pakistan, must know where these people are," she said in an exchange almost as blunt as her exasperated remarks a day earlier that Pakistan lacked the will to target Al Qaeda.
Her stormy three-day visit, rocked at the start by a terrorist blast in Peshawar that killed more than 100 Pakistanis, revealed clear signs of strain between the two nations despite months of public insistence that they were on the same wavelength in the U.S.-declared war on terrorism.
During a live broadcast of an interview before a predominantly female audience of several hundred, one woman asked Clinton how she would define terrorism.
"Is it the killing of people in drone attacks?" the woman asked. Then she asked whether Clinton considered both the U.S. missile strikes and militant bombings like the one in the city of Peshawar earlier in the week as acts of terrorism.
"No, I do not," Clinton replied.
Another man said bluntly: "Please forgive me, but I would like to say we've been fighting your war."
Clinton faced sharp questions about the secret U.S. program that uses unmanned aircraft to launch missiles to kill terrorists along the porous, lawless border with Afghanistan.
Asked repeatedly about the drones, a subject that involves highly classified CIA operations, Clinton said only that "there is a war going on." She added that the Obama administration is committed to helping Pakistan defeat the insurgents.
Digg
Twitter
Facebook
StumbleUpon
Save more than