War on Terror

Clinton Defiant After Pakistan Bombing

Blast that killed 91 overshadows visit.

A deadly car bomb made from over 250 pounds of explosives killed 91 people, including 60 women and children, in a marketplace in Peshawar, Pakistan on Wednesday, at the same time Hillary Clinton was meeting with officials in Islamabad, a three-hour drive away. Coincidentally, the goal of Clinton’s unannounced visit—her first as secretary of State—was to expand the United States’ “lopsided” relationship with Pakistan beyond “security and the counterterrorism agenda.” Clinton was defiant: “These attacks on innocent people are cowardly; they are not courageous.” Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi echoed Clinton’s sentiments following the attacks, issuing a pledge to terrorists: "We will not buckle. We will fight you. We will fight you because we want peace and stability in Pakistan." The bombing was the worst of all the militant suicide bombings, assassinations, and attacks that have occurred in Pakistan this year.