Hard Choices by Hillary Clinton

Hard Choices by Hillary Clinton

A week back I got a text message from Karachi. My father-in-law wanted to be sure that we secure a copy of Hillary Clinton's Hard Choices for him to read on his next trip to NY.

Now that I have a copy, I thought to glance through it. 

I have never read her books before. In fact I have not read Obama's books either, bought by my wife when he was running for President for the first time. I promised to myself to read, if he ever got elected. It is still sitting there and Obama is almost on his way out.

So, Hard Choices covers her time as the Secretary of State. It is a big book. Has more than 600 pages and is divided into six parts. I read Part Three, which deals with Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is aptly called War and Peace, has three chapters, Afpac:Surge, Afghanistan: To End a War and Pakistan: National Honor.

In Afpac, she tells the Afghanistan story more as an observer and a reporter instead of that of an active participant. She tells the team was divided on the surge issue. Gates was in favor, Biden was against. She does not tell us her position. 

She speaks highly of Holbrooke and the AfPac initiative. Holbrooke was not liked by White House staff and many really wanted him out.

Holbrooke was with her in her office when he said, 'something is nor right', He was rushed to the hospital. The surgeon who operated and tried to save Holbrooke's aortic tear was from Lahore. She does not mention his name.

She expressed astonishment that Obama mentioned the eighteen month deadline to leave Afghanistan when he announced the surge. 

Half of chapter on Pakistan is filled with the details of Operation Neptune Spear. After it was over, President called all four living former presidents to personally inform them. When he called Bill Clinton, he assumed that she must have told him. She had not.

She mentions Zardari positively. It was her who had spoken to him after the Abbottabad incident. He took it well.

She again agreed to be the person to offer condolences to Pakistan on the 24-soldiers killings,

Benazir is the only celebrity she has waited on a rope line to see, when she was visiting London in 1987 and saw people lining up to see Benazir arrive at Ritz Hotel.

At least in these three chapters, she does not give much of space to Pakistan's issues with India and her analysis of that. She does mention in detail her trip to Pakistan where she ventured into many talk shows and media events as a punching bag. 

There is no mention of any Pakistani Army General at all. Pervez Mushharaf is briefly mentioned. There is no mention of Pakistan being a nuclear armed state.

So overall, in my review of these three chapters the views of the former Secretary of State, a former First Lady, NY Senator and a potential future US President about Pakistan are expressed through the concerns of security, Pakistan's nuisance value and the War on Terror. If any thing else is mentioned, it is her interest in the women's issues. Strategic partnership and the so called old friends during Cold War is not a drum beaten in this book.