Mid-East Ambassador Holbrooke Has Died

Richard Holbrooke, a forceful presence in American diplomacy for more than 45 years, died tonight in Washington, D.C. He was 69.

His death, after emergency surgery Friday for a torn aorta, was confirmed by sources to ABC News White House Correspondent Jake Tapper.

Holbrooke, who served in the Obama administration as the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, was putting the finishing touches on a major report on American military and diplomatic efforts in Afghanistan, due to be released on Thursday.

  Business Insider

As the obituaries note, Holbrooke was key figure in US diplomacy for almost half a century. One fun fact: he authored a substantial portion of the Pentagon Papers.

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Vice President Biden's statement contains these two sentence: "Richard Holbrooke was a larger than life figure, who through his brilliance, determination and sheer force of will helped bend the curve of history in the direction of progress ... He was a tireless negotiator, a relentless advocate for American interests, and the most talented diplomat we've had in a generation."

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His reputation rests on his role in ending the war in Yugoslavia, where he demonstrated a cold-eyed, unabashedly pragmatic mix of cajoling, bullying, threatening and negotiating mixed with bombing to achieve an eminently just and moral end, which makes him on several levels a hero to many of us.

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According to the Post, family members say his last words as he was sedated for surgery were: "You've got to stop this war in Afghanistan."

  TPM

That was Josh Marshall, who apparently still thinks very highly of the man, even though he knows Holbrooke was involved in writing – not revealing – the Pentagon Papers. Here’s what I remember: When asked how to measure success in Afghanistan, he said, “We'll know it when we see it."

Very helpful. But he did admit that “eradication is a waste of money” – talking about the opium trade in Afghanistan. I also remember that he was one of the “VIPs” who was getting special mortgage loans, and that he laughed off attacks on a helicopter he was riding in – as though he were the only person who might have been killed, or at least important enough to count.

But let me just admit he was a great ambassador, because look at the country whose interests he was representing.