Mrs Clinton, US Secretary of State, made her comments in testimony to the Congress. She was speaking as news emerged that Taliban militants havd "established effective control of a strategically important district [Buner] just 70 miles from Pakistan's capital, Islamabad":
"On Wednesday heavily armed Taliban militants were patrolling villages, and the local police had retreated to their station houses in much of Buner, officials and residents said. The staff members of local nongovernmental organizations have been ordered to leave, and their offices have been looted, they said. Pakistani television news channels showed Taliban fighters triumphantly carrying office equipment out of the offices of the organizations."
Mrs Clinton said that America had failed to stay with Pakistan after successfully supporting anti-Soviet rebels during the 1980s. America withdrew leaving Pakistan to cope with militant freedom fighters inside its territory - many under the spell of Saudi-financed Wahhabism.
Last week was a big week for President Obama's mission to show that US foreign policy will be very different under his administration. On climate change, 'torture', Cuba and relations with other American states he communicated his change agenda. The BBC communicated all four shifts:
On climate change... "The US government is to regulate carbon dioxide emissions, having decided that it and five other greenhouse gases may endanger human health and well-being. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the move following a review of the scientific evidence. The decision marks a major change from the Bush presidency, when the EPA argued it could not regulate CO2 because the gas was not a pollutant."
Publication of 'torture' memos... "The US has published four secret memos detailing legal justification for the Bush-era CIA interrogation programme. Critics of the programme say the methods used amounted to torture. President Barack Obama has also issued a statement guaranteeing that no CIA employees will be prosecuted for their role in the interrogation programme."
"President Barack Obama has said the US seeks an "equal partnership" with all the nations of the Americas. Mr Obama said in particular that he wanted a thaw in relations between the US and Cuba, having earlier shaken hands with one of the US's harshest critics, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez."
A easing of restrictions on Cuba... "US President Barack Obama has approved measures that will allow Cuban Americans to travel more freely to Cuba, his spokesman has said. Cuban-Americans will also be allowed to send more money to relatives in Cuba. The move, announced by White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, comes after Mr Obama last month signed a spending bill easing some economic sanctions on Cuba."
Writing in the Financial Times Clive Crook attempted to define an Obama foreign policy doctrine. He identified a key ingredient as personal warmth:
"Mr Obama’s willingness to start anew, ask what works, offer respect to governments that crave it (even if they may not deserve it) and patiently seek progress where he may is refreshing.
One aspect of this pragmatism is the president’s desire to build alliances and cool old enmities, and work towards US aims through co-operation rather than confrontation. The trouble is, most US presidents – including Mr Obama’s predecessor – felt the same way until the world beat it out of them. Foreign policy doctrine is put to the test only when co-operation in pursuit of mutual interests fails to achieve results, and the hard choices that Mr Obama insists he is willing to make actually present themselves.
Though it is much too soon to write off Mr Obama’s friendly overtures, you could hardly describe them so far as a notable success. He travelled to Europe this month and received ovations at every step; presidents and prime ministers jostled like giddy teenagers to be photographed with him. Yet he went away with nothing: no co-ordinated fiscal stimulus; no meaningful commitments of new military support in Afghanistan. Judged by the outcome, could his predecessor have done much worse?
The world agreed that North Korea’s missile test should be opposed; the US even hinted it might shoot the rocket down. The launch went ahead without repercussions. The US and its allies could not agree on a response.
The world believes that Iran should be stopped from developing nuclear weapons, but the allies drag their feet over sanctions."
The LA Times is reporting that US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has told US Marines that any strike against Iran and its emerging nuclear capacities would be counter-productive in all but the short-term.
Secretary Gates warned that a strike against Iran would only "cement [the nation's] determination to have a nuclear program, and also build into the whole country an undying hatred of whoever hits them." He said that the only way of avoiding a nuclear Iran would be if "Iranians themselves decide it's too costly."
Israeli President Shimon Peres caused alarm in Washington at the weekend when he warned that Israel would strike Iran if President Obama's offer of dialogue with Tehran failed. Israel's President also said, however, that "we certainly cannot go it alone, without the US, and we definitely can't go against the US."
It is not clear if Israel's new Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, shares Peres' belief that America can veto action. The headline of a recent Natanyahu interview was: Stop Iran, Or I Will.
Yesterday AITW noted how Europe had failed to respond to Barack Obama's request for help in the post-Bush era. American conservatives such as Charles Krauthammer are angry and accuse President Obama of seeking popularity in Europe at the expense of America's interests.
"And so it was that Barack Hussein Obama visited Europe. In London, he rescued the world economy. In Strasbourg, he healed the Nato alliance. In Prague, he rid the world of nuclear weapons. In Ankara, he reconciled Islam and the west. And on the seventh day, he got back on to Air Force One and disappeared into a cloudless sky. Was it all a dream? I fear so."
"Europe listens with shining eyes, it mobs him in its thousands and claps and cheers – but when he says it's time they shared a bit more of the burden, they stare at their shoes."
Although Barack Obama has been greeted with adoring crowds in EVERY European capital, the warmth has not translated into tangible policy results.
European nations have made no long-term additional commitments to Afghanistan and very few combat troops. Only Britain is ready to increase its commitment of frontline forces - a reminder to the American President of the special relationship.
France and Germany vetoed the President's hope for a more expansionary fiscal policy from Europe.
France and Germany also poured cold water on President Obama's hope for a speedy accession of Turkey into the European Union.
"The United States strongly supports Turkey's bid to become a member of the European Union. (Applause.) We speak not as members of the EU, but as close friends of both Turkey and Europe. Turkey has been a resolute ally and a responsible partner in transatlantic and European institutions. Turkey is bound to Europe by more than the bridges over the Bosphorous. Centuries of shared history, culture, and commerce bring you together. Europe gains by the diversity of ethnicity, tradition and faith -- it is not diminished by it. And Turkish membership would broaden and strengthen Europe's foundation once more.
Now, of course, Turkey has its own responsibilities. And you've made important progress towards membership. But I also know that Turkey has pursued difficult political reforms not simply because it's good for EU membership, but because it's right for Turkey.
In the last several years, you've abolished state security courts, you've expanded the right to counsel. You've reformed the penal code and strengthened laws that govern the freedom of the press and assembly. You've lifted bans on teaching and broadcasting Kurdish, and the world noted with respect the important signal sent through a new state Kurdish television station.
These achievements have created new laws that must be implemented, and a momentum that should be sustained. For democracies cannot be static -- they must move forward. Freedom of religion and expression lead to a strong and vibrant civil society that only strengthens the state, which is why steps like reopening Halki Seminary will send such an important signal inside Turkey and beyond. An enduring commitment to the rule of law is the only way to achieve the security that comes from justice for all people. Robust minority rights let societies benefit from the full measure of contributions from all citizens."
President Obama leaves Europe having restored a continent's warmth for America. His challenge in the remainder of his Presidency is to translate that popular sympathy into practical solidarity.
Max Hastings, writing in the Daily Mail, believes that that will be much easier when the American economy is motoring again: "Once the U.S. is back doing what it does best, providing the engine and inspiration for the world's economic growth, much else will become possible." We shall have to see if Mr Hastings is right. Bush was the excuse for European indifference. Now the excuse is the economy. At some point Europe will run out of excuses.
