rssU.S. Ambassador to Iraq Dick Holbrooke: Now More Than Ever
Wednesday, November 26, 2008 at 1:56 pm
- 22 Comments
The other day I wondered what the reported ascendence of Jim Steinberg to deputy secretary of state meant for Richard Holbrooke’s job prospects. Reading about the latest maneuvering in Iraq on the status of forces agreement, it strikes me that one of the critical positions I mentioned in my piece today is almost tailor-made for a diplomat of Holbrooke’s stature and particular talents. At the risk of endorsement, Obama could do a whole lot worse than to make Holbrooke the next ambassador to Iraq.
Take a look at what’s on that ambassador’s plate. From my piece:
Most important, there isn’t a stable national or sectarian consensus about the composition of the Iraqi government. Crucial — even existential — questions remain about how much power should be concentrated in Baghdad; whether and how the Shiite-led government could absorb tens of thousands of the mostly-Sunni militiamen known as the Sons of Iraq, and who will govern large areas in northern Iraq claimed by both Arabs and Kurds. If that isn’t enough, the so-called Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the U.S. and Iraqi governments demands that the U.S. military withdraw from cities and large towns by mid-2009 and gives the Iraqi government wide latitude over U.S. military operations.
Is there any U.S. diplomat more qualified than Holbrooke — a former U.N. ambassador, among other things — to preside over and cajole the creation of a national sectarian political compact in Iraq? Unlike anyone else in the U.S. foreign policy community, Holbrooke actually did this before, in the middle of a Balkan shooting war, and he’s given a lot of thought to the ways in which his Balkan experience is relevant to Iraq. If we’re to take seriously the idea that the U.S. needs energetic diplomatic action to broker a political settlement in Iraq to accompany withdrawal, there isn’t really anyone else for the job.
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22 Comments
Comment posted November 27, 2008 @ 9:44 am
Boy, you are really an apologist for the establishment, aren't you? I thought this site was outside the Washington mainstream, an alternative news source for those fed up with seeing the same faces over and over. I don't think I'll bother coming here anymore. I can get the same tired perspective from the establishment press.
Comment posted December 2, 2008 @ 9:07 pm
I think the U.S. State Department and U.S. Foreign Policy would have been better off if Dick Holbrooke and not Robert Frasure died on the Igman mountain near Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina on August 19, 1995. Frasure died in a road accident while on a mission to negotiate a U.S. proposal to end the conflict in Bosnia. They were forced to take a dangerous road because the Sebs had blocked the main route AND Holbrooke insisted on driving in that minute instead of waiting for a safe passage. We would have seen the rise of Christopher Hill earlier and Robert Frasure, a great man and a career diplomat (not a political appointee like Holbrooke) would have got his due. No talented person wants to work for such an insufferable ass like Dick Holbrooke, especially one that hogs all the credit and kisses up and kicks down. Clinton should know better by now that jerks like Mark Penn and Holbrooke drag your whole staff, and ultimately, your own operation, down.
Comment posted January 8, 2009 @ 3:22 am
What a horrible choice.
I cannot stand this man, and his zillion dollar ski lodge in Telluride, and his smug, arrogant demeanor.
Comment posted February 18, 2009 @ 3:36 am
It's indeed a horrible choice, I am strongly against it.
Comment posted February 18, 2009 @ 11:36 am
It's indeed a horrible choice, I am strongly against it.
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Comment posted September 6, 2011 @ 10:13 am
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Comment posted September 7, 2011 @ 1:57 am
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Comment posted September 7, 2011 @ 2:39 am
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Comment posted September 7, 2011 @ 3:22 am
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