Ambassador Richard Holbrooke died yesterday at the age of 69. Holbrooke will probably be most remembered for his prominent role in ending the Bosnian War by negotiating the Dayton Peace Accords. According to his obituary he saw his role in negotiation as a pragmatist.
“If you can prevent the deaths of people still alive, you’re not doing a disservice to those already killed trying to do so,” he said.
Mr. Holbrooke, who described the negotiations as “unbelievably difficult,” had been a fierce critic of the international community’s reluctance to take a more active role in addressing the conflict during its early years, calling it “the greatest collective failure of the West since the 1930s.”
Sen. John F. Kerry, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said Mr. Holbrooke’s “life’s work saved tens of thousands of lives.”
Holbrooke’s current position was as special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan. That’s why Richard Holbrooke’s last words echo so strongly.
“You’ve got to stop this war in Afghanistan.”
Spoken to a Pakistani surgeon who was sedating him before surgery.