Richard Holbrooke’s Dying Words: “You’ve Got To Stop This War In Afghanistan”

As Ambassador Richard Holbrooke was being wheeled into surgery, a family member reports, he said to his Pakistani surgeon, “You’ve got to stop this war in Afghanistan.”

Mr. Holbrooke’s death could have a profound impact on the administration’s efforts to implement aspects of its strategy for the war in Afghanistan, which relies not just on military gains but development assistance and diplomatic initiatives with the governments in Kabul and neighboring Pakistan that had been his principal focus.

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His most prominent role was as a presidential wartime problem solver, to which Mr. Holbrooke applied an unwavering energy, a flair for diplomatic improvisation and a hard-charging style that could yield dramatic breakthroughs but also generate bitterness and enmity, even among his American teammates.

Although the consequences of his forceful personality were laid bare in his efforts to stabilize Afghanistan and Pakistan, leading to tense disagreements with leaders of those nations and fellow U.S. officials, Mr. Holbrooke never stopped trying to address the insurgencies that threaten both countries.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.