Saying it like it is

A little candour now and again can be a good thing. In diplomacy, it can be like a breath of fresh air. When Hillary Clinton lost her patience at an interaction with Pakistani journalists during her Lahore visit this past week and cut right through the BS to call a spade a spade, I was as pleased as punch.

The diplomatic world's worst-kept secret - that Pakistan harbours terrorists - exploded in the local media's face when U.S. Secretary of State Clinton said: "I find it hard to believe that nobody in your government knows where they (Al-Qaeda operatives) are and couldn't get them if they really wanted to."

Osama bin Laden, his Al-Qaeda network and scores of other terrorist comrades have made the inhospitable mountains along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border their home for close to a decade. The entire world knows this. And it's obvious that this safe haven could not exist without the tacit approval and cooperation of at least some in positions of influence in Pakistan as well as Afghanistan.

But so far world leaders have been walking on eggshells each time they speak of Pakistan's apparent attempt to rein in the forces of terror. They hail Islamabad as a key ally in the war on terror. And they refuse to publicly acknowledge that the Pakistanis have been turning a blind eye to the presence on their soil of men wanted around the world for killing thousands of innocent people.

Finally, the U.S. seems to have dropped the act and is saying it like it is. I don't know if Clinton had President Obama's approval before speaking that harshly, but I feel only good can come of ending an era of mouthing platitudes. "I want to have the kind of relationship where we really are talking honestly about everything between us because there's just too much at stake," Clinton reportedly said in defence of her outburst.

If Clinton really wants to work towards cutting the crap and getting real results, let's wish her the very best.