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Hillary, Go Home
Aamir Qureshi, AFP / Getty Images
As Secretary Clinton arrives in Pakistan amid pandemonium today, The Daily Beast’s Fatima Bhutto says her visit is pure charade—and that American aid is the gift that keeps on taking.
Tonight, blood is on everyone’s mind in Pakistan.
One week ago, the Pakistan army—aided by U.S. drone technology, no less—launched its offensive against the South Waziristan region, the new home of our fabled local Taliban. The Taliban moved there after last summer’s Swat offensive, which was declared a resounding success. So successful, apparently, that the militants were able to pack up and shuffle right into a new region of the country.
Maybe Hillary Clinton can explain this to us. She’s here today, ostensibly to show that America’s foreign policy toward Pakistan is focused on more than just security and terrorism. But fate loves irony: Upon the Secretary’s arrival today, Peepal Mandi Bazaar—a busy shopping center that caters mainly to women picking up fabric and children rummaging through the book and toy stalls—was hit by a monstrous blast. So far, ninety people are dead. More than two hundred are injured. Lady Reading hospital in the city is sending out urgent requests for blood donations—there’s just not enough available for the wounded.
There is too much blood, there is not enough blood.
Clinton promised today to stand “shoulder to shoulder” with Pakistan. Hillary, I think we’re standing close enough as it is.
Clinton, who has fondly reminisced about her decades-long friendship with President Zardari, dating back to the time when they were both first spouses, promised when she landed in Islamabad today to stand “shoulder to shoulder” with Pakistan in its fight against terrorism.
• Tina Brown: Hillary Finally Doffs Her BurqaHillary, I think we’re standing close enough as it is. This government, feted by Clinton as a much ballyhooed ally, doesn’t have a very solid handle on what’s what. President Zardari’s party, the PPP, is run more like a corporation, negotiating billion-dollar aid packages for Pakistan from anyone who’s willing to foot the bill. Zardari bragged to England’s Daily Telegraph this July that he “has resisted extremists from Aung San Suu Kyi to the Taliban,” mistakenly (one hopes?) coupling the Burmese pro-democracy leader with the nefarious bearded militants.
During its one year in office, the Zardari government has passed two measly but scurrilous bills. The first, called the National Reconciliation Ordinance (nicknamed the National Robbers Ordinance by clever newsmen), legitimizes twenty years of the ruling party’s corruption, and includes a stipulation that makes it virtually impossible to file charges against sitting politicians. The Zardari government then passed a bill democratizing censorship, expanding restrictions on text messages and emails that spoof, satirize, or assassinate the president’s character. If Secretary Clinton wants to expand her government’s relationship with Pakistan, she cannot claim to be supporting democracy or the rule of law.
• Michael Smerconish: Musharraf on Fixing Pakistan and the Afghan SurgePakistan’s government, already seen as a generously greased U.S. stooge by its citizens and neighbors, is receiving billions of dollars from Clinton’s employer. The Kerry Lugar bill promises $1.5 billion a year (for “development”) but the fine print is a gift that keeps on taking. While Pakistan will be flush with development dollars, we will have to send the U.S. government detailed reports regarding our armed forces, including assessments of the civilian control of our very independent army, updates on our prevention of nuclear proliferation, and expertise and analysis of how much we have expanded or diminished our nuclear programs.
Pakistan’s sovereignty was signed over to Hillary and Barack some time ago. With a government willing to use U.S. drone technology against its own people, bomb various parts of its country when directed to, and allow a revolving-door policy for American officials, it’s no wonder Washington is hell bent on supporting the disastrous Zardari government.
Tonight, as Pakistan buries its many dead, Secretary Clinton and the Obama administration are seen as defenders of a state that can not protect its people. It’s time for her to go home.
Fatima Bhutto is a graduate of Columbia University and the School of Oriental and African Studies. She is working on a book to be published by Jonathan Cape in 2010. Fatima lives and works in Karachi, Pakistan.
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Fatima Bhutto is a graduate of Columbia University and the School of Oriental and African Studies. She is working on a book to be published by Jonathan Cape in 2010. Fatima lives and works in Karachi, Pakistan.
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
You're a complete idiot. You need to read a history book before you try coming up with clever nicknames.
MaCaCa, dabeall constantly proves he's the epitome of Conjecture......stop giving him the satisfaction of a retort.
You are woefully and irresponsibly misinformed. This topic deserves real journalist coverage, not Hollywood style sensationalism. It is shocking what trash The Daily Beast has reduced itself to printing. Where are all of the real journalists these days?
Mrs Butto.....your view frightens me.
We are talking about 1.5 billion, that should be spent on America.
You are unappreciative of the generosity of America, shame on you.
If your main point is "where is the money going?"
.....GO find out....its likely..... a slimy Pakistan officials...please dedicate yourself to fixing that problem....and please don't write about it/if when you do.
I pray your view is not shared by many.....
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
Reality check... right now ...by any means necessary.
really dude? Does everything have to be about your dislike of President Obama? This policy began under Bush--where did that money go? Pakistan is a corrupt society. There just isn't anyone you can deal with that's not going to steal some of the money. Also, your attempts at puns are just sad.
Hey Dumbell..I mean dabeall, please enlighten us as to how exactly Obama is supposed to effect this accountability you speak of, in a country for which he is not the leader.
I suppose in your twisted hard right colonial mind, Obama is supposed to go to his partners in Pakistan and say " you know what I don't trust you...I want receipts ". Sorry it just doesn't work that way.
Your ignorance about the world outside of your paranoid walls is frightening.
I agree that Butto has no point of view except....America go away....and we can take your money without accountability. Considering the state of Pakistan and the fact that have nuclear defenses, Butto's uber nationalistic approach is unrealistic. Pakistan is part of a large problem of unrest fanned by nuclear energy. If she doesn't know where the money is going in her super corrupt country, she needs to do her homework.
Her view is shared with most of the Pakistan people who do not trust or want America's intervention in their country. According to polling data the U S is viewed negatively by most of the population of Pakistan. They fear we will show up uninvited to invade their country. They remember how they were left to suffer after aiding us in helping to run the Soviets out of Afghanistan. Pretending that we have ever been the good guys in our dealing with the middle east is just pretending.
You know that if she really spoke the truth, it just might mean a death sentence for her.
How do we defend against extremeism then? You fail to offer an answer...
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That's been done, is currently being done, and will continue to be done.
Dabeall, you are an idiot. Where is the Taliban? In Pakistan. We can't just directly send our Troops into Pakistan, they won't let us. If we do, they have said they would consider it an act of war, and, because you are a moron you are obviously unaware, they are a nuclear armed nation. Starting war with nuclear armed nations is a bad idea. So, our best option is to support a Pakistani government that is against the Taliban, give them the money and tools to take care of them for us, and hope they use them effectively. Unfortunately, the best option we have is to support a very suspect government that is not as pro-democracy as we should really expect, but the real world is full of hard decisions dealing in grey areas. Your world view, dabeall, is a ridiculous farce, taken straight out of an 80's action film where we can just send in Rambo to kill the entire Taliban.
Exactly debeall.....Steve516 you obviously haven't served....or done anything to support America. Your name should be Monday morning quarterback for a baseball game"
Please go volunteer somewhere....your karma is rancid.
Stop being part of the problem.
Are you advocating an invasion of Pakistan? You really don't understand geopolitics do you? You want us to invade the world's 6th most populated country? One that has nukes? Pakistan's population is more than three times that of Afghanistan's and Iraq's put together. Also, there's no rush on deciding a strategy for Afghanistan. The winters on its way. Any offensive by the US in Afghanistan (and yes President Obama will send at least 30,000 more) can't begin until the Spring anyways.
Bhutto is brilliantly myopic. Besides, I thought we grieved irony years ago.
Bhutto acts as if her country's problems stem from the US. No, they stem from the fact that Pakistan's creation was itself a mistake. Yet, no one in Pakistan would ever admit that their nation having been created so foolishly has had to rely on foreign powers for survival. Without foreign aide Pakistan would either collapse or fall under Indian hegemony.
The U.S. has long been a nebulous scapegoat for Muslim countries. Fatima Bhutto is merely upholding a generations-old tradition!
once you become a member of the nuclear club, you lose your right to let your domestic incompetence remain solely a domestic problem. So, regardless of how incompetent Zardari's govt. is, he is the elected and internationally recognized head of a NUCLEAR state. You can cry all you want, but we ain't goin anywhere as long as you have nukes. It's what responsible people of the world want from us and it's a responsibility our govt. has towards our own citizens. We don't care - Musharraff, Bhutto, Zardari, some future military dictator - as long as they have the keys to the nukes, we are going to go to great lengths to support and influence them. And if it looks like the Taliban is on the verge of overtaking the country, then you can be certain of this - the USA, along with China, Russia and all of Europe, will unite militarily to prevent that from happening. So, Pakistani's are free to have whatever kind of political system they want, but when it comes to nukes the world will not stand by as fringe terrorists seek to gain control of weapons that can destroy entire populations.
exactly.
Well put my friend, well put!
I would hope you arecorrect that China and Russia would join us,,, but I highly doubt it.
I would like to think that China and Russia would join us, but I highly doubt it.
China and Russia also have big problems with the Taliban and other religious extremists, so my guess is they won't stand for a Taliban takeover. They will oppose us if they think they could control the Taliban, but even they realize they would have no influence over them, and those Nukes would be a hell of a lot closer to them than to us. I just can't see them standing by as the Taliban and Al Quaeda gain control over weapons that pose a direct threat to their security.
My, aren't we just a bowl full of cheer today!
For those of us who believe in Diplomacy (and there are few of us left), it seems more relevant now that Pakistan join forces with India, who itself has been victimized by Terrorism, in a common struggle to teach and repudiate those responsible for the carnage.
None of this ever comes to any sense in the end. People just get killed, populations are dislodged, the innocent get trampled, and as Fatima points out, the terrorists simply move to another Region of the Country. Maybe the only good news here is that the conflict is farther from major metropolitan areas, so fewer people will be impacted....but that's only a minor blessing in the context of a greater scourge.
Not to always be pulling a page from Kissinger's book, but the Hedgemony of Great Powers in the Region is usually and most reliably the correct solution. Like the United Nations itself, it creates the proper balance of the right to rule with the ability to chastise those who act in defiance of Law. Certainly, we still have our own problems in this Country just trying to affect use of our Constitution in ordinary life, but what Pakistan faces is far more dire and severe. So also should be the care imposed and providing a solution. Hedgemony is one of the great truths of governance. It must be applied at every opportunity, or it will more naturally apply itself in distended and unwelcome ways.
Bhutto's family is notoriously corrupt too, and the ruling classes of Pakistan have about as much moral currency as the ruling classes of Haiti.
The Pakistan government created the Taliban. They're suffering now over it, but so is the rest of the world.
I feel sorry for people getting blown up in Pakistan, but for once - it's hardly our fault. And if they don't get a handle on those crazy people, they're going to lose their country. And it'll be nobody's fault but theirs.
you all miss the real reason Sir Edmund Hillary was sent there by 0bama. To hopefully make her "underfire" statements come true. Give him a reason to get his failures and dismal poll numbers off of the airwaves. Mostly to keep from having to put her on the ticket in 2012 because he's proved to be a joke, or worse, even run against him when he refuses too.
That was pretty lame fiction writing, and even worse, NO HUMOR AT ALL. We have "The Daily Show" and "Colbert Report" because we are smart enough to have a sense of humor. The other side side has America haters Hannity, Glen, Rush and O'Reilly - extremely funny people, but only because the vast, vasT, vaST, vAST, VAST majority of people are laughing AT them.
Fatima..Hillary Clinton will be happy to leave your bereft country when you give her back all the billions of dollars the United States (and her taxpayers) have provided in aid. Until you put your money where your crude, rude and trash talking mouth is, go away and wait for the Taliban to let you publish your enlightened diplomatic comments on one of their freedom loving and feminist blogs.
I thought the world was gonna love us?
You know, I try to be polite, fair, and reasonable on my posts here. I must for once betray that stance: FUCK that STUPID from a CORRUPT ASS FAMILY BIATCH. I remember the scenes from her beloved festoon of a shit-hole cu-Karachi of people dancing in the streets in the aftermath of 9/11. I'll never forget the bitch with the square black glasses writhing as if in orgasmic bliss. So, once again, FUCK HER unapreciative ass. All the more reason for us to get the hell out of DODGE. I care less who started this war Bush/Obama don't mean a thing. What an asshole. Her whole family is CORRUPT. Whew, I feel better now and will resume being objective & nice. Thank You
lol! I'm glad you had a chance to get that out of your system.
LOL. Thank you. Where does Fatima get off lecturing Americans on what we should or should not do regarding Pakistan. A significant part of the problem is the legacy of corruption left behind by her family!
This is rich! The daughter of the founder of a terrorist organization (Al-Zulfiqar) has the answers to what ails Pakistan.
Why is this hypocritical woman given a platform to spew her idiotic garbage?
So your aunt Benazir may have ordered the murder of your father. SFW! Murtaza Bhutto was equally ruthless and corrupt as any other Pakistani politico.
Listen Cathay! its your right you can oppose with fatima. But I too oppose on her some writings. One thing I would clear you that is this, our Mir Murtaza was, is and will not Terrorist.... This is propanganda of Zia's legecy. Mir Murtaza is our Che Mir! so please before using words be careful, bcuz now Terrorist is who, who against monopoly power. even i dont read Fatima an article but my eyes came and stand up ur comment which makes me more anger.
Now He was exiled from us, and you people if cannot say and see Truth then dont say lie..... if you want reality of his killing then come on realities and see the establishment ruthless ticts.... who killed, killing......!!!
veengas
karachi
I follow the articles and comments with much interest on THe Daily Beast. Its a forum which has almost always presented a diverse educated opinion. I also noticed that editors of The Daily Beast intermittently take the liberty of deleting some comments here. It is indeed a smart move to moderate the feedback inorder to ensure consequential discourse. I however cant help but feel the above comments by PUPITO adds nothing to the debate rather encourages use of foul language. PUPITO may have in other instances brought something to the table but just because there is a 'disclaimer' in the above comment doesnt mean it stays in. Please address.
Dear Fatima Bhutto,
Since you're so well connected to the Pakistan regime, perhaps you can convince them to sell us all of your country's nuclear weapons in exchange for a huge lump sum of freshly printed dollars that can be used for whatever the heck it wants to, except to fund terrorist organizations that come back to haunt both of us and except for anything having to do with nuclear weapons.
Of course, that mean that Pakistan couldn't use it to fund its intelligence services, since they are essentially terrorist organizations, albeit ones cloaked with the facade of legitimacy by the Pakistani government, which itself is cloaked with the facade of legitimacy because the Pakistani military says so, which itself is cloaked with facade of spiffy uniforms.
If the Pakistani government agrees to do that, then we'll leave the region and never trouble your country again, as long as it abides by the terms above. Remember, we don't really give a hoot about Pakistan these days, except for the nuclear weapons it's never really needed in its dealing with India.
I read your Wikipedia entry. Interesting family that you hail from. It's like something out of the realm of Shakespeare. A lot more interesting than my family, who were mostly killed by black lung, barroom gunfights, and congestive heart failure.
Wikipedia quotes you as saying: "I don't believe in birth-right politics. I don't think, nor have I ever thought, that my name qualifies me for anything."
Is that accurate? Or has Wikipedia been once again victimized by false information?
Yours in a regretful alliance of convenience,
Whipmawhopma
P.S. - It might have escaped your notice, but Ms. Clinton was made Secretary of State to keep her from being at home yet in arm's reach. American politics don't ya know. Expect to be seeing more of her until Pakistan gets this Taliban thing under control.
Let me get this straight:
Your "government," until recently, was a general.
We held our collective nose, but supported him.
You complained.
Moreover, you fought in the streets to rid yourselves of this military dictator.
We supported you.
Your new government is too weak to stand up to your military.
Still, we support them, and by extension, you.
Still, you complain.
What the hell DO you want? Military dictatorship? Theocracy?
Believe you me, there is nothing the US would rather do than get the hell out of there and let you guys fight over which Invisible Super Hero From Outer Space is the correct one to worship.
We're just afraid you'll start selling your nukes to the highest bidder.
Oh. Wait. You already did that. Yeah, we'll be around a while. Poor you, what with Hillary standing up for Pakistani women and all.
But seriously, tell us what it is you want. You can't possibly be complaining about this:
"While Pakistan will be flush with development dollars, we will have to send the U.S. government detailed reports regarding our armed forces, including assessments of the civilian control of our very independent army, updates on our prevention of nuclear proliferation, and expertise and analysis of how much we have expanded or diminished our nuclear programs."
Um, "waaaaaaah"?
You want us to demand more open government? What's it been, maybe ten hours since somebody blew up hundreds of Pakistani women in the street? HELP US. The only way you get open government is if your people are safe. And the only way they become safe is to stop the thugs blowing up women and children. Pakistanis know who and where they are. When you're ready to stop making shit up about our "war on Islam," and ready to stop making excuses for these people, they'll be put behind bars where they belong. And then we can talk about open government. In the meantime, we're gonna keep an eye on those nukes, thanks.
Ms Bhutto, you can whine about the state of Pakistans sovereignty and try to link the evil bombing to Sec. Clinton and the U.S. efforts to bring stability and responibility to the regions but remember the attacks on this country origionated in that part of the world by a relentless evil movement that has been protected and preserved in large part by sympathy within Pakistan. You can despise American efforts but remember at all times that if the Taliban and AQ ever get there hands on your sovereeignty and your nukes that the US would be absolutely required to surgically strike with the ultimate force to insure that those who have declared war on us can never launch a nuclear strike. If you think the blood bath in the recent bombing was horrendous, you would not want to see what a preventative nuclear strike would look like. With nuclear weapons comes responsibility, the same responsability which maintains the sovereignty of other nations possessing nuclear weapons. Pakistan should clean their own act up without US aid, but it seems to me to be an unreal expectation with the culture that exist there now struggling for control of nuclear weaponry.
A FRIGGIN MEN! Someone please send this stupid woman a picture of Hiroshima or Nagasaki.
Bhutto is right on the mark. Pakistanis are not asking for US aid - in fact most Pakistanis are OPPOSED to receiving this money given all the strings attached. Please note that a recent poll showed the 70% Pakistanis have an unfavorable opinion of the US. Ask yourself this question: why is the US pushing aid down the throats of Pakistanis when they don't want it - particularly when the US has its own set of economic woes? Who is helping whom here? Keep the money, America, you need it more than we do.
Oh Please spare me! The Pakistan Govt. has been taking or if it suits you better, accepting aidnfrom us for YEARS. I'm sure none of your politicians, dictators, generals have said " NO america keep your money" get real. Half of the country is starving over there and you know it. The sad thing is that your leaders are too corrupt to dole out OUR funds in the humanitarian way that they were intended!
After listening to Hillary Clinton talk fake, I think Mr. Clinton was right on Monica Lewinski :)
Mam, at least, some one important from the American Establishment is visiting Pakistan in these dangerous conditions and that even for a good long trip.. isn't it commendable to a break-through extent? She is giving time to People, Anchors, Leaders, and many general issues are taken up which is a good gesture because they, themselves, are well ... Read moreaware of the fact that there popularity is just a hoax now.. so y not lest give them a chance to bring-up their ideas and see what they say? It isn't that I am voting for them, but indeed, the fact is that v can't leave this war on terror in the middle of the sea and America can't be rejected and thrown away in a couple of days!! This needs understanding each others' differences and giving break to all in order to put up their vision for the public to judge and see and rule out the worse..
For the record, I am a student of Mechanical Engineering at Peshawar, and a biiig fan of you! Keep u the good work of sharing new things with us! :)
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fatima, usually I find your writing to be right on target, but this time I think you are oversimplifying things to a ridiculous degree. As with so many who criticize the US, you have lots of complaints - mostly against your own government - but no realistic solutions. Do you really think it is anyones best interest for the US to leave Pakistan to its own devices? Do you really think that US leaders aren't aware of everything you have written here about what a mess the Pakistan leadership is, and then some? But do you really think it is in the best interest of Pakistanis, or Afgans, or Indians or the US to leave them to their own devices? Maybe you should focus your writing on rallying the moderate and reasonable Pakistanis like yourself to do something constructive, rather than focusing on the easy but stupid "US get out" angle. We would love to get out. Clean up your mess so we can.
Give them hell Hillary, the Pakistani leaders in the past have taken advantage of us, but we had GWB it was not his money or his lives to give it away, lets have some grown up in the State department , lets deal with the fact .
She is nothing but a charlatan. Always has been, always will be. Read her "valedictory" address from Wellesley. Pure cow pie. Screwed up healthcare; screwed up cakewalk to nomination. Never had serious opposition to NY Senate bid; Giulliani would have kicked her ass. Hope she doesn't screw up this job too. Wouldn't hold my breath. George Patton
This column is the worst kind of hysterics -- and there are quite a few kinds.
Clinton is not only obligated to visit a friendly government on its soil as a gesture of good will and solidarity, but the U.S. is also obligated to follow through on its security concerns, many of which now reside in Pakistan. Never mind that you have accepted our money to do a job, and that we should be allowed to inquire firsthand as to whether that money was well spent, if and when we must decide whether to renew our support.
It's fine if you have ideological problems with America and/or Obama's foreign policy toward Pakistan, but must you also be so rude? Hillary Clinton is a guest in your country and you are her host. She has never done anything harmful to you or Pakistan. Indeed, her support for women all over the world is something that should have earned your respect, however hesitant.
And this STUPID BITCH was educated in the US? I hope she realizes the SAME fate the rest of her shitty-corrupt family did.
tone it down, pupito. she clearly is not stupid, and neither of us knows her personally and well enough to call her such names.
Believe me when I tell you, Ms. Bhutto that I would like nothing better to get out of all these "stan" countries and leave them to their fate. We need the money at home.
There's only one thing stopping me from joining the hippies and peaceniks on this subject, and that's the fact that if the Islamic fascists \take over the corrupt wreckage and failed states in the "stan" countries, they WOULD use them as bases to attack the West, as they have done in the past.
This is not just some paranoid fantasy; they have a long track record of doing just that.
Talking about track record - who has the best track record in killing civilians? Yes, you may have guessed it if you read history. Its the United States. After Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Vietnam and countless installation of repressive regimes all over Latin America, the Arab world and anybody who offers to repress their civilians in exchange for offshore account full of US dollars, one doesn't have to have to look further than an American's nose to find the culprit. Two thirds of arms sell in the world last year was from the United States. Talk about selling peace across the world!
Thank you for this very thought provoking piece. Too many of us form opinions without the benefit of " seeing ourselves as other see us ".
Thank you.
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