Richard Holbrooke, who died earlier this week at 69, was the quintessential American diplomat, always trying to bring opposing parties together and knowing when to cajole and push them for their own good. It was that kind of tenacity that enabled Vietnamese refugees to settle here in the late seventies and also led to a peace accord that brought an end to the Bosnian civil war in 1995 (and the peace has held since). Holbrooke was instrumental in both initiatives.
Holbrooke was usually the adult in the U.S. diplomatic corps - he was the anti-Bolton - and he knew that bringing Islamic terrorist groups under control wouldn't merely be achieved by throwing the Taliban out of power in Afghanistan; he was not so naive to believe that a new Afghan government could make a positive change overnight. Or even in a decade. That's why Holbrooke made it his mission to bring U.S. involvement in Afghanistan to as successful a conclusion as possible - and also include Pakistan, whose borders had been infiltrated by Taliban and al-Qaeda regiments, in the process - when President Obama made him the special envoy for that region. With Holbrooke gone, the U.S. effort to defeat al-Qaeda and the Taliban and stabilize the region has become much more difficult than it already was.
Meanwhile, I would be remiss if I did not mention the death from cancer of Elizabeth Edwards, who made it her life's work to help less fortunate people and handled her own misfortune so well. Her passing marks yet another tragic turn of events for John Edwards and his family, already marked by a sex scandal and the death of an older son. The story of the Edwardses seems almost Shakespearean, with no one left to redeem the story in its final act. Although Mrs. Edwards was stellar at battling cancer - and don't say she "lost her battle with cancer," she died - so much wreckage from the Edwardses' ill fates remains, and it will take a long time for anyone involved in this sad story of love and betrayal to recover. Mrs. Edwards will never get the chance to do so.
Holbrooke was usually the adult in the U.S. diplomatic corps - he was the anti-Bolton - and he knew that bringing Islamic terrorist groups under control wouldn't merely be achieved by throwing the Taliban out of power in Afghanistan; he was not so naive to believe that a new Afghan government could make a positive change overnight. Or even in a decade. That's why Holbrooke made it his mission to bring U.S. involvement in Afghanistan to as successful a conclusion as possible - and also include Pakistan, whose borders had been infiltrated by Taliban and al-Qaeda regiments, in the process - when President Obama made him the special envoy for that region. With Holbrooke gone, the U.S. effort to defeat al-Qaeda and the Taliban and stabilize the region has become much more difficult than it already was.
Meanwhile, I would be remiss if I did not mention the death from cancer of Elizabeth Edwards, who made it her life's work to help less fortunate people and handled her own misfortune so well. Her passing marks yet another tragic turn of events for John Edwards and his family, already marked by a sex scandal and the death of an older son. The story of the Edwardses seems almost Shakespearean, with no one left to redeem the story in its final act. Although Mrs. Edwards was stellar at battling cancer - and don't say she "lost her battle with cancer," she died - so much wreckage from the Edwardses' ill fates remains, and it will take a long time for anyone involved in this sad story of love and betrayal to recover. Mrs. Edwards will never get the chance to do so.
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