Remembering U.S. Diplomat Richard Holbrooke

World Reacts to Ambassador Richard Holbrooke's Death -- Voice of America

U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke died Monday at the age of 69 after undergoing heart surgery. The longtime diplomat's death drew reaction from around the world.

Words of praise showered from Islamabad to Brussels toward U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke, who died Monday in Washington.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saluted Holbrooke for pursuing a robust and determined diplomacy.

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More News On The Death Of Ambassador Richard Holbrooke

World pays tribute to Holbrooke: "The Bulldozer" -- Yahoo News/AP
Veteran diplomat Richard Holbrooke dies -- Yahoo News/Reuters
Richard Holbrooke dies: world reaction -- The Telegraph
World pays tribute to US diplomat Richard Holbrooke -- BBC
World leaders mourn Holbrooke's death -- CNN
Leaders Pay Tribute to Holbrooke -- U.S. Department of Defense
Obama: Holbrooke 'a true giant' of foreign policy -- USA Today
Richard Holbrooke dies: Veteran U.S. diplomat brokered Dayton peace accords -- Washington Post
Clinton recalls Holbrooke as 'giant of the diplomatic corps for almost 50 years' -- Foreign Policy
Richard C. Holbrooke, 1941-2010 -- Foreign Policy
A Forceful Advocate for U.S. Interests -- Wall Street Journal
Richard Holbrooke, 'giant of US foreign policy', dies aged 69 -- The Guardian
Veteran US Diplomat Richard Holbrooke Dies -- Voice of America
Diplomat Richard Holbrooke dies at 69 -- L.A. Times
Richard Holbrooke Dies of Aortic Tear: What's That? -- CBS News
Veteran U.S. Diplomat Richard Holbrooke Dies -- NPR
Famed U.S. Diplomat Holbrooke Dies At 69 -- RTT News
Richard Holbrooke -- The Telegraph
Richard Holbrooke's diplomatic memoir -- L.A. Times
Obituary: Richard Holbrooke -- BBC
Richard Holbrooke's last words: 'You've got to stop this war in Afghanistan' -- The Telegraph

Richard Holbrooke’s Vexing Afghan Challenge -- Wall Street Journal
Richard Holbrooke, a Passionate Peacemaker -- US News And World Report
Richard Holbrooke: Archetype of American Diplomacy -- Time Maagzine
Richard Holbrooke's 'towering' ambition and achievement -- Politico
Holbrooke's Style Of Diplomacy Both Brash, Charming -- NPR
Holbrooke's 'Af-Pak' Structure Likely To Survive Without Him -- NPR
Obama to review post-Holbrooke Afghan policy -- CNN
Holbrooke: An Appreciation -- The Atlantic
Holbrooke's Death Leaves Obama With Tough-to-Fill Void on AfPak Team -- FOX News
Richard Holbrooke's legacy in Afghanistan and Pakistan -- BBC
Holbrooke the dove -- Blake Hounshell, Foreign Policy
Richard Holbrooke: A Disappointed Man -- Newsweek
Richard Holbrooke's relentless work for American leadership -- Washington Post editorial
Richard Holbrooke, a force of personality -- David Ignatius, Washington Post
Holbrooke: An extraordinary man -- Richard Cohen, Washington Post

My Comment: I was fortunate to have seen Ambassador Holbrooke at a seminar in New York a decade or so ago. He was articulate and no nonsense .... an impression that has always stuck with me when I see him on TV.

I can also only assume that his death will hurt U.S. foreign policy at a time when Wikileaks has been effective in discrediting it .... his presence would have moderated any objections or suspicions that Wikileaks may have raised in places like Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Osama bin Laden And Afghan Taliban Leader Mullah Omar Are Hiding Near Pak-Afghan Border

U.S. Special Representative Richard Holbrooke

Osama, Omar Hiding Near Pak-Afghan Border: Holbrooke -- Times Of India

ISLAMABAD: Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden and leader of the Taliban in Afghanistan Mullah Omar were hiding somewhere along the Pakistan-Afghan border, US special representative for the region Richard Holbrooke said Saturday.

Holbrooke, who is on a two-day visit to Pakistan, said this after meeting Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.

He said that the US did not only increase aid to Pakistan's military but also extended its support in other sectors as well, Dawn reported.

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My Comment: Holbrooke says this .... but if that was the case both men would have been captured or killed a long time ago. Bottom line .... he really does not know where they are.

Richard Holbrooke's Mission

Special Representative Holbrooke, in New York. Photograph by Brigitte Lacombe.

The Last Mission: Richard Holbrooke’s Plan To Avoid The Mistakes Of Vietnam In Afghanistan -- George Packer

A week after being elected President, Barack Obama summoned Richard Holbrooke to his transition headquarters, at the Hilton Hotel in Chicago. To some members of Obama’s staff, the invitation was surprising: Obama and Holbrooke hardly knew each other, and Holbrooke had firmly supported Hillary Clinton during the primaries. Although Holbrooke, a State Department veteran, had been careful not to disparage Obama, the President-elect’s advisers saw him as a problematic, if rare, talent.

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My Comment: This is a long article .... but it does give an insight into the strategic thinking that Holbrooke is bringing to the table .... I just do not know if anyone is listening to him.

President Obama's Special Representative To Afghanistan And Paksitan Is Pessimistic

Wolfgang Ischinger, chairman of the Munich Security Conference, left, with Richard C. Holbrooke, the U.S. special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, on Sunday. Kai Moerk/Munich Conference on Security, via European Pressphoto Agency

Holbrooke Says Afghan War ‘Tougher Than Iraq
-- The New York Times

MUNICH — The war in Afghanistan will be “much tougher than Iraq,” President Obama’s special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan told a security conference here on Sunday.

“There is no magic formula in Afghanistan,” the envoy, Richard C. Holbrooke, warned an audience of European policy makers and military planners. “There is no Dayton agreement in Afghanistan,” he added, referring to the peace accord he negotiated to end the war in Bosnia. “It’s going to be a long, difficult struggle.”

Mr. Holbrooke was part of a high-level American delegation at the annual Munich Security Conference over the weekend. The group, led by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and including Gen. James L. Jones, the national security adviser, and Gen. David H. Petraeus, the head of the United States Central Command, did not paint a rosy picture of the situation in Afghanistan.

The American view of Afghanistan’s problems differed from that of the country’s president, Hamid Karzai, who also spoke Sunday.

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Update: Afghanistan seen tougher challenge than Iraq -- Reuters

My Comment: He is publicly saying what regular readers of this blog have known since the summer of 2008 .... Pakistan is imploding from pursuing a deal with the devil (i.e. Taliban and Islamic extremists), and the historical and cultural difficulties are running a country like Afghanistan is now being felt.