Clinton to Announce Aid for Pakistan Refugees

(NEWSER) - Hillary Clinton is hoping text messages can save Pakistan’s Swat Valley. The Secretary of State is asking Americans to text “swat” to 20222 to make a $5 donation to help refugees from the fighting there, Foreign Policy reports. The money would go to a UN agency, which provides food, medicine, and tents for the 1.17 million who’ve been forced to flee their homes in the region. More»

President, Clinton cite US arrests, but link to Pakistan appears weak

(NEWSER) - The White House has been overstating the link between recent domestic terrorism arrests and al-Qaeda activities in Pakistan and Afghanistan, security experts say. In justifying the Afghanistan troop buildup, President Obama cited recent arrests within the US; Hillary Clinton cited some of the same incidents a few days later. But the connection between al-Qaeda’s nerve center in Pakistan and those arrests is much more nebulous than they’re implying, counterterrorism officials tell the Washington Independent . More»

Clinton a strong secretary, but not yet administration's voice

(NEWSER) - Ask Hillary Clinton or her staff about President Obama and they’ll praise him and tell you the relationship between the two really is strong. But the tensions between the State Department and White House are starting to show, writes Joe Klein . The president’s foreign policy hasn’t yet yielded results, and on her recent Pakistan trip, Clinton gave the first hints that she’d like to assert her independence—and move beyond what Klein calls “the Rodney King ‘Can’t we all just get along?’ phase.” More»

Advances pose 'mortal threat' to US security, says Clinton

(NEWSER) - The Taliban are expanding their reach in Pakistan and are now perched about 70 miles from the capital of Islamabad. The militants, recently given control of the Swat Valley by the government, took over the neighboring Buner district last night. Hillary Clinton told a House panel today that the "Pakistani government is basically abdicating to the Taliban and to the extremists,” a development she said posed a "mortal threat" to US and world security, the New York Times reports. More»

High-level conference would develop 'common way forward'

(AP) - Hillary Clinton has proposed a high-level international conference on Afghanistan sponsored by the United Nations and attended by a wide range of countries including Pakistan and NATO allies. The secretary of State presented the proposal at a NATO meeting in Brussels, where she said the session could be held March 31. More»