Richard Holbrooke news stories on Newser

Security Woes Force US to Drop Afghan Consulate

Neal Colgrass — Sun, 06 May 2012 16:54:16 CDT

Washington has abandoned a plan to open a consulate in northern Afghanistan after signing a 10-year lease and dishing out more than $80 million for the site, the Washington Post reports. American officials cited rising security concerns, but planners apparently overlooked problems from the beginning in a rush to prove...

After Death, What Holbrooke Really Thought Revealed

Mark Russell — Sun, 15 May 2011 11:44:05 CDT

In life, Richard Holbrooke was loyal to the Obama administration, but since his December death, his widow and friends have decided that it is important people know the true opinions of this special envoy to the Af-Pak region, writes Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times —including what Holbrooke saw...

US Holding Direct, Secret Talks With Taliban

John Johnson — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 09:54:00 CST

The US is for the first time holding direct talks with senior Taliban officials in Afghanistan, reports Steve Coll in the New Yorker . He characterizes them as "exploratory" and not as formal peace negotiations, noting that supreme leader Mullar Omar is not a participant. The intent is to pave the...

Marc Grossman New Envoy to Pakistan, Afghanistan

Rob Quinn — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 05:51:57 CST

Former ambassador to Egypt Marc Grossman will be coming out of retirement to take up one of the toughest jobs in diplomacy, administration officials say. Grossman, after months of wrangling between the White House and the State Department, is to become the new special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, filling...

White House: Holbrooke's 'Last Words' Made in Jest

John Johnson — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 16:58:57 CST

The White House is taking issue with today's heavy coverage of the last words attributed to Richard Holbrooke: "Stop this war in Afghanistan." Far from being a melodramatic plea, it was actually part of a lighthearted back-and-forth with the medical staff, says the State Department's PJ Crowley. It began when...

Holbrooke's Last Words: End Afghanistan War

Rob Quinn — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 06:42:14 CST

Richard Holbrooke's dying wish was for an end to the war in Afghanistan, family members say. As he was heading into surgery in a Washington hospital, the late American special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan told his Pakistani surgeon, "You've got to stop this war in Afghanistan," relatives tell the...

Diplomat Richard Holbrooke Dead at 69

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 19:17:50 CST

Richard Holbrooke, a brilliant and feisty US diplomat who wrote part of the Pentagon Papers, was the architect of the 1995 Bosnia peace plan, and served as President Obama's special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, died today, an administration official said. He was 69. The official spoke on condition of...

Envoy Richard Holbrooke in Critical Condition

Sat, 11 Dec 2010 10:48:57 CST

Richard Holbrooke, the president's special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, is in critical condition at a Washington hospital after surgery this morning to repair a tear in his aorta. He fell ill at the State Department yesterday. The veteran diplomat, 69, is perhaps best known for helping broker the 1995...

US: Iran Welcome at Afghan Talks

Kevin Spak — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 12:01:00 CDT

Iran sent a representative to an international pow-wow on the Afghan war today, and the US says it didn’t mind one bit. “We were asked whether we had any problems with that and we said 'No,’” Richard Holbrooke tells Reuters . “We recognize that Iran, with its long, almost completely...