Clinton’s visit Dawn Editorial

[LahoreEstate]

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Pakistan on a mission, it seems, to mend fences with the Pakistani public, media and opposition. Ms Clinton is the highest-ranking official of the Obama administration to have visited Pakistan in an attempt to mollify detractors here who have been aggrieved by the strictures contained in the Kerry-Lugar bill and the army and the government’s role in the ‘US war on terror.’

The words she has elected to use have been sensible. ‘Let us discuss and air the differences as friends and partners and let us not magnify them to the extent of exclusion of many areas of agreement and cooperation.’

Topping the list of those ‘areas of agreement and cooperation’ are two things — which many here are loath to admit: one, dollars flowing directly from the US treasury and indirectly from the IFIs that have helped stave off disaster for the economy; and two, cooperation in the fight against Al-Qaeda which menaces the state here and poses a threat to regional stability. Neither has gained much traction with the public or created goodwill for the Americans because the focus has been on the other ‘sins’ of a profligate, not-very-competent Pakistani government and the American ‘hidden agenda’ to undermine Pakistan’s security and territorial integrity. Be that as it may, and in fact reversing public opinion in Pakistan in the near term may be a lost cause, it is good to at least see a softer side of American diplomacy, one that emphasises opportunities and not threats.

Unfortunately, when it comes to strategic issues — the real meat of Pak-US relations — Ms Clinton’s trip has come perhaps a few weeks too soon. Reportedly President Obama will make a decision on his new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan after the presidential run-off in Afghanistan on Nov 7. What course Mr Obama elects to choose from the many, many options that have been debated internally and in the international media will have far-reaching implications on Pak-US relations in the years ahead. At the moment, the few signals being sent by a cagey White House indicate that the cut-and-run option is off the table and so is a significant drawing down of US troops in Afghanistan in the short term. Nor does a ‘Pakistan first,’ purely counter-terrorist strategy appear to be imminent. But between those baselines and Gen McChrystal’s full-blown counter-insurgency plan are many options, and the one finally chosen will be studied very closely in Islamabad and Rawalpindi for the implications on strategic relations between Pakistan and the US going forward.

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn...isit-zj-01