Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the appointment of two permanent envoys to major trouble spots—George Mitchell to the Mideast and Richard Holbrooke to Afghanistan and Pakistan...Anything short of relentless diplomatic efforts will fail," Clinton said, making it clear that Holbrooke and Mitchell would each be spending much of the next four years away from home. Both men, Holbrooke and Mitchell, gained fame by ending what seemed to be intractable conflicts, Bosnia (Holbrooke) and Northern Ireland (Mitchell). "There is no such thing as a conflict that can't be ended," Mitchell said.
Holbrooke's importance in ending the Bosnian conflict is grossly overrated, not least of which by himself. Operation Deliberate Force, you know, bombing the shit out of the Bosnian Serb military, was the primary motivator for peace. Sure, Holbrooke did some negotiation, but let's be honest, he pretty much negotiated terms of surrender.
Mitchell's role in the Good Friday Agreement is far more impressive. And Mitchell, by most accounts, isn't as big of an asshole as Holbrooke, which wouldn't matter to me either way, but I think Holbrooke is going to be a disaster in his newly assigned role.
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