Hillary Clinton in Afghanistan and Pakistan

There's not exactly a whole lot to report but here's a story on Hillary Clinton's visit to Asia courtesy of AP writer Jason Straziuso in The Guardian:

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton ate breakfast with soldiers from New York and Indiana at the main U.S. base in Afghanistan on Sunday before meeting with the top American general in Afghanistan and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, officials said.

Clinton, a Democrat from New York who is considering running for president, later went to Lahore, Pakistan, where she met briefly with Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf late Sunday, according to a foreign ministry statement.

At the meeting, Musharraf said a ``peaceful and stable Afghanistan was in Pakistan's vital interest,'' the statement read. Musharraf also ``affirmed Pakistan's firm resolve to fight extremism and terrorism.''

I'm a little uneasy with Pakistan's policy towards the Taliban which seems to be one of occassional pressure on the Taliban mixed with long periods of benign neglect followed by gestures and promises of doing something and, well, otherwise—not much happens. Since they're not on the same page, it keeps the Americans and the home crowds pacified I suppose. Pakistan claims that it's not harboring al Qaida, and that' s only true in the sense that they'll capture members of al Qaida if they happen to fall into their laps or start creating trouble in Pakistan but otherwise Pakistan doesn't seem to have an active program in the Northwest Territories of tracking down al Qaida where many believe they are probably located.

Given who Hillary Clinton is, I'm surprised by the lack of coverage. I hope when she comes back that she gives us some details on what she learned.