Winning hearts and minds in Pakistan critical, but ...

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton got a first-hand look at how Pakistan is being terrorized by Islamic extremists when a powerful explosion in the northwestern city of Peshawar, which killed at least 100 people, coincided with her arrival Wednesday. More than 100 people, mostly women and children, perished and at least 150 were injured.

According to Dawn, an English newspaper in Pakistan, the blast triggered a huge fire that engulfed a number of buildings near Meena Bazaar. The newspaper quoted an intelligence officer as blaming terrorists based in Darra Adamkhel.

“We intercepted a call last week in which militants were talking about a ‘heart rendering’ attack in Peshawar,” the intelligence officer told Dawn.

Secretary of State Clinton, who concluded her visit Friday, strongly condemned the cowardly act by the terrorists and insisted that the United States would not be dissuaded from continuing to work with Pakistan to rid that region of terrorism.

But while her visit to America’s chief ally in the war on global terrorism was designed to win the hearts and minds of the people, Clinton did not shy away from offering an honest appraisal of Pakistan’s failure to locate the top leaders of al-Qaida.

Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on America’s mainland, and members of his al-Qaida inner circle are holed up in the remote provinces along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. They fled there after the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan toppled the government run by the Taliban.

Clinton’s misgivings about Pakistan’s commitment to nab the world’s leading terrorist are the same as those expressed by the previous administration.

The secretary of state said she finds it “hard to believe that nobody in your government knows where they are and couldn’t get them if they really wanted to.” She was speaking to Pakistani journalists, who undoubtedly will be giving her comments a lot of play.

‘Charm exercise’

It may seem incongruous that in the midst of what was described by Dawn as “a major charm exercise” Clinton would speak so candidly about the government’s failure to bring in bin Laden and the others.

But such a conversation is essential, as Wednesday’s car bombing demonstrated. So long as the al-Qaida leadership is intact and able to communicate with terrorists around the world, the danger to the United States and its allies remains.

Pakistan has been under intense pressure from various militant groups determined to replace the democratically elected government in Islamabad with an Islamic theocracy similar to what had existed in Afghanistan and what exists in Iran.

“If we are going to have a mature partnership where we work together,” Clinton said, “then there are issues that not just the United States, but others have with your government and your military establishment.”

Tensions between the U.S. and Pakistan have risen since the Obama administration began sending drones armed with missiles into the border areas from where Taliban militants are launching attacks into Afghanistan.

The missile have claimed the lives of many militants, but there also have been numerous civilian casualties. That has turned public sentiment in Pakistan against the United States.

Clinton’s visit was designed to show the people that the Obama administration isn’t only interested in a military relationship, but that it is committed to helping the government rebuild those parts of the country that have been devastated by terrorist attacks.

Winning the hearts and minds of Pakistanis is an important part of the war on global terrorism.

Secretary of State Clinton struck the right note during her visit to America’s important ally.