The nominee to be President Barack Obama's new envoy to Pakistan pledged on Thursday to work aggressively to boost America's image in the country, where billions in aid spending has done little to convince people of US friendship.
Facing senators frustrated about polls showing nearly 60 percent of Pakistanis view the United States as an enemy, Cameron Munter told a Senate panel he would implement an "integrated strategic" message program in Pakistan if confirmed as ambassador.
"In other words making sure that there's a broad effort to communicate a set of messages ... not only aimed at having them in a kind of crude sense to appreciate us but to understand us better," Munter told the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee. Munter, who has served as a diplomat in Serbia and Iraq, said his aim was to get all US personnel delivering the same message, recognising that "everyone is dealing with the public, from our military to our consuls to our people in our consulates in Lahore and in Karachi." Munter is Obama's choice to succeed Ambassador Anne Patterson, who has earned respect for her handling of US-Pakistani relations during crisis after crisis since she arrived in 2007, including the transition from military to civilian rule.
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