U.S. pressure on Pakistan to attack militants may backfire

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Top U.S. officials on Thursday publicly questioned the plans of Pakistan's newly elected civilian government to negotiate with militants in the country's border region with Afghanistan and instead urged the continued use of military force.

[The] visit been widely criticized for taking place before a new government was fully formed.

AP - Pakistanis burn a U.S. flag Tuesday

to protest the visit of U.S. officials John Negroponte
and Richard Boucher.

"To my mind, it seems ham-handed insensitivity that brought Negroponte and Boucher to Pakistan. Because certainly no one has welcomed their visit here," said Pervez Hoodbhoy, one of the country's leading political commentators. "It's a sign of panic, anxiety, of things slipping through their hand."