Richard Holbrooke

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With US Help, India-Pakistan Tension Eases

(Newser) - Revamped leadership in India and Pakistan and some behind-the-scenes encouragement from the US could lead to negotiations over the disputed Kashmir region, the New York Times reports. But while there are shimmers of hope, the relationship is still strained. “I am happy to meet you,” India’s PM...

Pakistan Bombing Kills 40 as Holbrooke Visits

(Newser) - A bombing at a mosque in northwest Pakistan killed about 40 people today, Reuters reports. The attack, which occurred near the troubled Swat Valley, took place as Pakistani leaders urged visiting US envoy Richard Holbrooke to ramp up US aid, notes the AP. Such attacks won't "deter the government...

Stakes Massive Ahead of Obama Af-Pak Summit

Zardari, Karzai in DC as Taliban surge in crumbling Pakistan

(Newser) - Barack Obama begins two days of talks with the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan today as his administration faces what may be its first foreign policy crisis: rising militancy in the Swat Valley that threatens to spread across the nuclear-armed nation. Obama and his team are expected to pressure Asif...

US, Iran Have 'Cordial' Chat in the Hague

Holbrooke, Iranian foreign minister will 'stay in touch': Clinton

(Newser) - Meeting in the Hague today, leading diplomats from the US and Iran had a “brief and cordial exchange,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said. In the Netherlands for 70-country talks on Afghanistan, US envoy to Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke and Iran’s deputy foreign minister plan to “stay...

Gates Stakes His Claim Under a New President
Gates Stakes His Claim Under a New President
ANALYSIS
Mar 31, 2009 7:40 AM CDT

Gates Stakes His Claim Under a New President

Defense secretary earns Obama's trust on Afghanistan-Pakistan

(Newser) - In 2008, under another president, Robert Gates spent 115 days traveling to Iraq, Afghanistan, Kosovo, and 23 other countries. But this year, writes the New York Times, the defense secretary has been spending much more time in Washington. Gates, the only holdover from the Bush Cabinet, has slowly secured a...

US Envoys Try to Defuse Pakistan Crisis

Obama administration holds talks as violence, protests continue

(Newser) - The US is attempting to defuse the escalating political crisis in Pakistan, reports the New York Times, as the police continued to beat and arrest protesters marching to Islamabad. The American ambassador yesterday visited Nawaz Sharif, the former PM whose supporters have joined the lawyers movement in anti-government demonstrations. Later...

Clinton the Campaigner Moves to State—for Good or Ill

(Newser) - As Hillary Clinton takes over the State Department, it's worth remembering that her train-wreck presidential campaign followed an "audacious 2000 run for Senate" and an excellent record as a legislator, Michael Crowley writes for the New Republic. "The question—not only for Hillary's legacy but for US...

US Envoy Visits Pakistan, Afghanistan Amid Violence

(Newser) - Richard Holbrooke, the Obama administration’s special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan, arrived in the region yesterday as waves of killings were washing over both countries, the BBC reports. While touring Pakistan’s volatile frontier region, a local official was killed by a roadside bomb. At the same time in...

Afghan War 'Tougher Than Iraq': Envoy

'I have never seen anything like the mess we have inherited'

(Newser) - The fight to combat terrorism in Afghanistan is “going to be much tougher than Iraq,” President Obama’s envoy to Afghanistan predicted today. “It is going to be a long, difficult struggle,” Richard Holbrooke added while speaking in Munich. The comments come as two US soldiers...

Mitchell, Holbrooke Named Special Envoys

Former senator gets Mideast portfolio; ex-ambassador Afghanistan and Pakistan

(Newser) - President Obama and newly minted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton moved quickly today to build the administration’s diplomatic efforts, naming George Mitchell and Richard Holbrooke special envoys, Reuters reports; both appointments were expected. Former Sen. Mitchell will focus on facilitating peace talks between Israel and Palestine, while ex-UN ambassador...

Team of Rivals Starting to Crack

Separate visits to State Dept by Rice, Clinton suggest competition

(Newser) - Separate visits to the State Department by Hillary Clinton and Susan Rice yesterday suggest that the rift between Barack Obama’s two highest-level diplomats may not have healed, reports the AP. Rice, the incoming UN ambassador, bucked her former Clinton administration bosses to support Obama in the primaries. Now she’...

US Needs Wake-Up Call on Pakistan
 US Needs 
 Wake-Up Call 
 on Pakistan 
opinion
Dec 8, 2008 1:28 PM CST

US Needs Wake-Up Call on Pakistan

Patchwork approach has failed—time for a more holistic view

(Newser) - Pacifying Pakistan could prove more difficult than democratizing Iraq, a hard reality that may be eased somewhat by a US special envoy, George Packer writes in the New Yorker. Packer, who backs the appointment of Richard Holbrooke, cautions that anything other than a holistic approach could spell trouble. “Years...

Jockeying for State Dept. Job Under Way

HIspanic groups push Richardson, but Kerry may have inside track

(Newser) - As Barack Obama deliberates his Cabinet choices, the chorus of "Pick me! Pick me!" begins in earnest, with many eyes on Condoleezza Rice's chair, reports the Wall Street Journal. Hispanic groups are pushing for their own Bill Richardson, a former presidential rival who ultimately endorsed Obama. But...

Karadzic Blasts 'Witch Hunt,' Says US Wants to Kill Him

Ex-Bosnian leader claims he cut a deal with Washington

(Newser) - Radovan Karadzic says he can't possibly get a fair trial at the Hague because a “media witch hunt” has already proclaimed him a war criminal, the BBC reports. In a document submitted to the war crimes tribunal, Karadzic cited “drastic irregularities” in his arrest and accused the US...

Obama Relying on Own Mini State Dept.

Candidate draws on expertise of 300 policy advisers

(Newser) - As Barack Obama makes his first overseas visit as the presumptive Democratic nominee, the New York Times spotlights the 300-strong army of foreign policy advisers that keep the candidate abreast of world affairs. Obama's operation is run like a mini-State Department, the Times notes, with senior aides taking responsibility for...

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