Ms. McHale

According to this news report Helene Cooper wants us to believe that “America cares”. I am sharing some part of it with you all.

By HELENE COOPER ( Newyork Times)

KARACHI, Pakistan — Judith A. McHale was expecting a contentious session with Ansar Abbasi, a Pakistani journalist known for his harsh criticism of American foreign policy, when she sat down for a one-on-one meeting with him in a hotel conference room in Islamabad on Monday. She got that, and a little bit more.

Ms. McHale, whose job is, in part, to try to repair America’s relations with the Muslim world, strayed from his side only when she ventured out on fence-mending missions of her own, meeting with 17 Pakistani journalists, 8 officials of nongovernmental organizations and members of several political parties, all in an effort to deliver one message: America cares about Pakistan.

After Ms. McHale, the Obama administration’s new under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, gave her initial polite presentation about building bridges between America and the Muslim world, Mr. Abbasi thanked her politely for meeting with him. Then he told her that he hated her.

“ ‘You should know that we hate all Americans,’ ” Ms. McHale said Mr. Abbasi told her. “ ‘From the bottom of our souls, we hate you.’ ”

Beyond the continuation of the battle against militants along the Pakistani-Afghan border, a big part of President Obama’s strategy for the region involves trying to broaden America’s involvement in the country to include nonmilitary areas like infrastructure development, trade, energy, schools and jobs — all aimed at convincing the Pakistani people that the United States is their friend. But as Ms. McHale and other American officials discovered this week, during a visit by Richard C. Holbrooke, the special representative to Pakistan and Afghanistan, making that case was not going to be easy.

“We have made a major turn with our relationship with Pakistan under President Obama,” Mr. Holbrooke told reporters at a news conference in Karachi on Wednesday. To polite applause, Mr. Holbrooke told local officials at the Governor’s House that the United States Consulate in Karachi would start granting business visas —100 a week — instead of making would-be business travelers to the United States go to Islamabad for the visas, as has been the case.

But Mr. Abbasi’s reaction — a response that, Ms. McHale acknowledged, apparently reflects the feelings of about 25 percent of the population, according to a recent poll — demonstrated just how tough the job is. For all of the administration’s efforts to call attention to the nonmilitary ties that would bind the two countries, America is still being judged by many Pakistanis as an uncaring behemoth whose sole concern is findingOsama bin Laden, no matter the cost in civilian Pakistani lives.

“He told me that we were no longer human beings because our goal was to eliminate other humans,” Ms. McHale said Wednesday, recounting the conversation with Mr. Abbasi. “He spoke English very well, and he said that thousands of innocent people have been killed because we are trying to find Osama bin Laden.”

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Strategic aims: how Britain is faring in Afghanistan

Stop terrorist plans for attacks on the UK

* MoD’s main stated aims include: “Deny al-Qa’ida its Afghan base”.

* Terrorist bunkers bombed out, training camps disrupted.

* Operations did not prevent attacks on London transport network.

* Fear plotting continues among terrorists in Pakistan and fghanistan.

Verdict: Failure

Avoid a bloody war

* Former defence secretary John Reid said he hoped British forces would leave without “a single shot being fired”.

* More than four million bullets fired by the British Army in a year, as conflict intensified.

* More soldiers have died there, 184 in all, than in Iraq.

Verdict: Failure

Catch Osama Bin Laden

* Post 9/11, al-Qa’ida’s most recognisable figure became world’s most wanted man.

* Afghanistan refused to extradite him before he went into hiding.

* His whereabouts unknown, remains an inspiration to insurgents.

Verdict: Failure

End Taliban rule in Afghanistan

* Taliban rule included laws against educating women and activities such as watching TV. Al-Qa’ida operatives were provided with shelter.

* Military intervention ended its control in 2001.

* Taliban still an insurgent force with undeterred remnants proving a dangerous enemy.

Verdict: Pass

Bring democracy to Afghanistan

* First elections run solely by the Afghan government take place next month.

* Provincial polls took place after Taliban’s fall.

* Elections generate waves of violent protests.

* Nato warned the new government “remains limited” and prone to corruption.

Verdict: Pass

Keep the region stable

* Armed forces want to contain targets to Afghanistan.

* Taliban insurgents crossed borders, leading to bloody battle with Pakistan army in Swat Valley, with tens of thousands fleeing their homes.

Verdict: Failure

Make the streets safe

* Troops completed missions to clear unexploded mines.

* Soldiers gain increasing trust of civilians.

* Nato recently warned recently the number of civilian deaths “remains a serious concern”.

* More than 2,000 Afghan civilians died last year in insurgent attacks.

Verdict: Failure

Improve life for Afghanis

* British money repaired dams and provided irrigation.

* Massive increase in children going to school, including large numbers of girls for the first time.

* Average life expectancy is 44, while disease and poverty are widespread.

* Large swathes of the country are unconnected to safe water supplies.

Verdict: More work needed

Stop the drug trade

* Concentrated battle against poppy field drug barons who supply world’s heroin market from Afghanistan.

* US experts fear blowing up poppy crops backfired, driving desperate farmers to sympathise with insurgent forces.

* Farmers struggling with alternative crops in the dry conditions.

Verdict: Failure

Preserve oil/gas access

* Afghanistan traditionally a perfect route for exporting oil and gas to Western countries.

* US set up deals with Afghanistan’s neighbours to ensure smoother exports.

* Agreements criticised for being made with countries having poor human rights records.

Verdict: Pass

Technorati Tags: british forces, independent, osama bin ladin, taliban, war in afghanistan