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US secretary of state Hillary Clinton's Pakistan visit has been a lesson in adroit diplomacy. Against the backdrop of the Peshawar carnage, she delivered a measured message, allaying fears about the conditions in the Kerry-Lugar Bill, praising the Pakistani military's efforts in South Waziristan and reaffirming the US-Pakistan relationship. But there was a sterner message couched in that non-confrontational approach. Whether Clinton's blunt comments regarding Islamabad's seeming duplicity in taking on the al-Qaeda leadership widely believed to be headquartered in South Waziristan were a deliberate ploy or merely a reaction to hostile questioning by Pakistani students and journalists, the message was clear: Washington has not been deceived.

Other statements made by her...