Thursday, December 16, 2010

Holbrooke's Last Words: Stop Afghanistan War

WASHINGTON, Dec 14: Richard Holbrooke, the late US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, had some stark final words as he was sedated and going in for surgery, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

“You’ve got to stop this war in Afghanistan,” Mr Holbrooke told his Pakistani surgeon, the Post reported, citing unnamed family members. These were his last words.

The comments were reported to the media by a senior US official who accompanied Mr Holbrooke to the hospital. But the surgeon, Dr Farzad Najam, said he could not discuss this with the media.

The annual administration review on Afghan policy is due to discuss what progress has been made since Mr Obama last year deployed 30,000 extra forces there to try to turn the tide of war and prepare to start the US troop withdrawal in July 2011.

From Pakistan Dawn

Richard Holbrooke, known as a ‘bulldozer’ for his tough negotiating skills, died in a Washington hospital on Monday. He was 69.

Mr Holbrooke was admitted to George Washington University Hospital on Friday after falling ill during a meeting at Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s office. On Saturday, he underwent 20 hours of surgery to fix an aortic dissection, a rare condition. He had another surgery on Sunday and on Monday he died from complications of the torn aorta.  May his soul rest in peace.

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