Richard Holbrooke has died after complications of 21 hour surgery to repair a torn aorta. He has served under every Democratic president since JFK. The Washington Post reports:
…that Holbrooke’s last wordscame just before the 21-hour operation. As Holbrooke was sedated for surgery, his final words were to his Pakistani surgeon, family members said: “You’ve got to stop this war in Afghanistan.”
Those are powerful words coming from a man who has brokered many difference peace accords between countries.
Calling Holbrooke “a true giant of American foreign policy,” Obama paid homage to the veteran diplomat as “a truly unique figure who will be remembered for his tireless diplomacy, love of country, and pursuit of peace.” Holbrooke deserves credit for much of the progress in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the president said.
Others from the administration spoke equally highly of Holbrooke:
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Holbrooke one of America’s “fiercest champions and most dedicated public servants.”
“Richard Holbrooke served the country he loved for nearly half a century, representing the United States in far-flung war zones and high-level peace talks, always with distinctive brilliance and unmatched determination,” Clinton said.
Richard Holbrooke’s shoes will be difficult if not impossible to fill. He has been called ‘ Raging Bull and ‘The Bull Dozer.’ He was known as effective and feisty. His death certainly makes peace in the middle east a little more difficult to achieve.
Chilling last words…
They certainly were.
No one has ever won in Afghanistan. The environment won’t let anyone. It seems to be mightier than any nation.
Couldn’t agree more. We’re barely fighting a war in Afghanistan anymore, but we ARE pouring billions of borrowed dollars into this bottomless pit of a nation.
Whenever our country has been at war, people have been willing to sacrifice and to pay taxes to pay for war. That is not the case today.
Except for those who have family members in the military, I don’t think that ANYBODY is sacrificing in any way. How do we know there’s actually a war (or two) going on?
Instead we’re standing in line to spend money for a holiday that’s more or less lost its meaning. Yes, I’m getting cynical!
Somebody here said it before, Punchak. War bonds. When the line forms, point me in that direction. In the meantime, we can cut back a bit on the Christmas presents and send the savings to the Order of the Purple Heart, Amvets, USO, and a whole lot of other organizations, including those places that are used to house the visiting families of wounded soldiers. And, if you have that capability, you can give a job to a returning vet. We have in our family a young man who was given a field promotion of the battlefield for his actions in combat and then took one in the leg on his second tour. He has a little bit of a problem with combat stress after two long tours and the loss of many friends. What he doesn’t have and hasn’t had for long months since being mustered out is a job.