Clinton finds Pakistani mistrust and anger

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's three-day trip to Pakistan did little to quell mistrust of the United States and anger over drone attacks, observers say.

Clinton met with journalists, college students and other Pakistani residents, in addition to the country's leaders. Many of those she encountered suggested, politely, that the bombing of suspected terrorist hideouts by unmanned aircraft is terrorism, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.

"You had one 9/11, and we are having daily 9/11s in Pakistan," Asma Shirazi, a journalist with Geo TV, said during a town hall meeting Friday in Islamabad.

When the moderator asked her if the drone attacks are the equivalent of terrorism, Clinton said no.

Some of those Clinton met blamed the United States for the Taliban insurgency in Pakistan, although they placed responsibility on the former administration of George W. Bush, not President Barack Obama.

One English-language newspaper, The Nation, called Clinton's visit an "abortive exercise," saying she left "fully conscious of that failure."