Pakistani journalist Ansar Abbasi harshly criticized US Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith McHale during an interview for the current state of American foreign policy, reports the New York Times. After McHale gave a diplomatic presentation on building bridges between America and the Muslim world, Abbasi thanked her politely for meeting with him before telling her that he hates all Americans.

"You should know that we hate all Americans, Ms. McHale," Abbasi told her. "From the bottom of our souls, we hate you." According to a recent poll, Mr. Abbasi's statement mirrors 25% of the population in Pakistan.

For all of the administration's efforts to call attention to the non-military ties that would bind the two countries, "America is still being judged by many Pakistanis as an uncaring behemoth whose sole concern is finding Osama bin Laden, regardless of civilian Pakistani lives," claims the New York Times.

During the same official visit, Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke received a similar lashing from Pakistani opposition leader Liaqat Baloch. Holbrooke apparently defended his position with Baloch, and McHale says she followed suit with Abbasi. McHale asserts that the positions she defended would appear logical to most Americans, but often fail to impress Pakistanis.

McHale added that although she is aware her arguments did not sway Abbasi, she was pleased to hear his thoughts as she is attempting to understand the source of anti-American sentiments in Pakistan.

In addition to continuing the battle against militants along the Pakistan-Afghanstan border, the Obama administration's strategy for the region stresses broadening America's economic ties to the country, especially investing in non-military areas like infrastructure development, trade, energy, schools and jobs.

A record 2,118 civilians were killed as a result of US military involvement in Afghanistan in 2008 alone, according to a United Nations statistic highlighted in the World Bulletin.

Gary Schmitt explains on the Enterprise Blog that McHale's approach to public diplomacy is to blame for her argument with Abassi, because she quickly ceded "the higher moral ground." Obama desires to cast his approach to the Islamic world as more realistic than the previous administration, but Schmitt argues that anti-American views like Abassi's are valuable within Pakistani communities, and will be extremely slow to change.

Obama should instead attempt to force anti-American Pakistanis to admit that their hostility "undermine[s] every possibility of improving [their] country's situation," says Schmitt.

Schmitt also claims that if such an approach were adopted, "We wouldn't have the spectacle of an undersecretary of State looking so weak in a part of the world where weakness is an invitation for more abuse and more trouble."

The increasing number of 'special envoys' sends a message to Pakistani leaders that combating the Taliban and Al-Qaeda should be their "most urgent priority," writes Dean Nelson on his blog for the Daily Telegraph. "What Pakistanis actually hear [from the US] is this: 'Our need for security is more important than your desire for justice. We are more important than you.'"