(Thumbnail image from Xinhua)
The deadliest militant assault in Pakistan in over two years rocked a women’s market in Peshawar, Wednesday. It killed at least 100 people, mostly women and children. The attack, claimed by Taliban militants, came several hours after Hillary Clinton, in her first visit to the country as U.S. Secretary of State, touched down in Islamabad for three days of talks with senior officials.
The welcome has media sources buzzing about what this could mean for American and Taliban sentiment in the region.
We’re looking at perspectives from CBS, Politico, MSNBC, The Christian Science Monitor, Fox News and CNN.
First, CBS and CNN agree that the attacks are increasing anti-American feelings in Pakistan but differ in what’s spurring public opinion.
“Before today, terrorist bomb attacks have killed more than 150 Pakistanis, as militant groups try to retaliate for the Pakistani army’s push in to Waziristan to battle the Taliban. The result of the violence is rising anti-American sentiment, with more people questioning why Pakistan is paying the price for an American-led war.” (CBS)
“They believe that extremists at this moment are planning and plotting the next attack on U.S. soil. That’s why they’re pressuring Pakistan to do more against the militants, but the pressure is really inflaming anti-Americanism here. A recent survey shows that three out of five Pakistanis believe the U.S. is a greater threat than the Taliban.” (CNN)
The Christian Science Monitor’s Issam Ahmed is on the ground in Pakistan. He says militants striking more ‘soft targets’ like the marketplace are causing widespread fear amongst Pakistani civilians that may turn public opinion against the Taliban. He quotes a different survey.
“A poll released Oct. 1 by the US-based International Republican Institute found that 73 percent of Pakistanis feel the Taliban is a threat to the country; 87 percent of Pakistani Muslims said that suicide bombing is never justifiable.”
FOX News commentator Jeffery Dressler says this week’s attack is not aimed at Hillary Clinton, but instead, is a sign that the Taliban is struggling against the Pakistani army.
“I think it’s a broader statement directed at the Pakistani government and the people of Pakistan. What we’ve seen is increasingly desperate attempts on behalf of these militants to dissuade the government and enrage public opinion against the operation that’s being conducted in their stronghold right now in South Waziristan.”
Poltico’s Laura Rozen reports on Clinton’s efforts to change the US-Pakistan conversation.
“Clinton will meet not only with Pakistani political leaders but as is her habit, holding town hall sessions with womens' groups, students, Pakistani journalists, and arts and cultural figures.”
But NBC correspondent Andrea Mitchell says the game has changed. Here she is on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
“Immediately at a news conference she said they are 'cowards,' that Pakistan’s battle is America’s battle but her whole trip, as you pointed out, the importance of it, she wanted to turn the page, she said on the flight over here, she wanted to change the direction of this relationship to focus not just on anti-terrorism, as important as that is, and security, military issues, but on the domestic concerns…but it’s going to be very difficult now to get away from the terror issue which greeted her on her arrival.”
How do you think this will affect diplomacy between Pakistan and the US?
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