Obama Names Envoys for Mideast, Afghanistan-Pakistan

[Omar1984]

Obama Names Envoys for Mideast, Afghanistan-Pakistan
By VOA News
22 January 2009


President Barack Obama has named his special envoys for the Middle East and the Afghanistan-Pakistan region.

George Mitchell is the envoy who will try to reinvigorate Israeli-Arab peace talks. Mitchell is a former senator who also helped negotiate the peace agreement for Northern Ireland.

Mr. Obama named former ambassador to the United Nations Richard Holbrooke as a special envoy for Afghanistan-Pakistan. Holbrooke also helped negotiate the peace agreement for Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Speaking at the State Department Thursday Mitchell said the situation in the Middle East is volatile, complex and dangerous, but that danger and difficulty cannot cause the United States to turn away.

Holbrooke said he is ready for the task of advising Mr. Obama about Afghanistan and Pakistan, adding that it will be a difficult assignment. He noted that the two countries have extraordinarily different histories.

VOA News - Obama Names Envoys for Mideast, Afghanistan-Pakistan


Richard Holbrooke

22nd United States Ambassador to the United Nations
In office
August 25, 1999 – January 20, 2001
President Bill Clinton
Preceded by Bill Richardson
Succeeded by John D. Negroponte

Born April 24, 1941 (1941-04-24) (age 67)
New York City, New York
Political party Democratic
Alma mater Brown University
Princeton University
Religion Jewish

Richard Holbrooke - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Omar1984]

Richard Holbrooke is Obama's advisor on Pakistan and I dont think he'll be good for Pakistan.

Holbrooke spoke about Iraq during his farewell press conference as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations on January 11, 2001. There he said, "Iraq will be one of the major issues facing the incoming Bush administration at the United Nations." Further, "Saddam Hussein's activities continue to be unacceptable and, in my view, dangerous to the region and, indeed, to the world, not only because he possesses the potential for weapons of mass destruction but because of the very nature of his regime. His willingness to be cruel internally is not unique in the world, but the combination of that and his willingness to export his problems makes him a clear and present danger at all times."

And we all know "weapons of mass destruction" was an excuse to get into Iraq.

 

[SSGPA1]

Don't worry about him .. he has worked with Muslim countries before and specifically in this region so he will be able to work with Pakistan too.

He is the guy appointed by Obama to relate the Kashmir issue with growth in terrorism.

I think US ambassadors in UN, India, Pakistan and Iraq are all going to change over the next six months.

After that Obama will work towards the resolution of Kashmir with the solution presented by Musharraf (OR at least he will try).

 

[rahgup]

Further, "Saddam Hussein's activities continue to be unacceptable and, in my view, dangerous to the region and, indeed, to the world, not only because he possesses the potential for weapons of mass destruction but because of the very nature of his regime.

WMD or not, Saddam Hussein needed to be removed. Ofcourse the occupation of Iraq is wrong, simply assasination of saddam would have sufficed.