8 years ago

“That really is the way the White House thinks. They don’t have a deep understanding of the issues themselves, but increasingly, they’re deluding themselves into thinking they do.”

said by David Hilbrooke at the height as special adviser on Pakistan and Afghanistan working under President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. This is just one of the many mesmerising quotes from the brilliant October 23rd HBO released Documentary: THE DIPLOMAT (1 hr. 44 min.) The no ordinary biopic tells the remarkable story of the life and legacy of an American Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, whose singular career spanned fifty years of American foreign policy – from Vietnam to Afghanistan (TRAILER) (An appreciation of Richard Holbrooke | Charlie Rose)

Ambassador Richard Holbrooke died unexpectedly on December 13, 2010 from heart complications. Holbrooke’s son David says that it was only when he was onstage at his father’s memorial that he “realised for the first time that my father was a historical figure,” (after the Holbrooke Memorial Service) and that the only way to grieve his loss was “to get to know him better in death than I did in life.” The Diplomat is the result.  – HBO 

  • Secretary Clinton Speaks at Holbrooke Memorial Service – PBS Newshour (YOUTUBE) 
  • President Obama Speaks at Holbrooke Memorial – PBS Newshour (YOUTUBE)
  • Ambassador Richard Holbrooke Memorial Service Dignitaries and family members participated in a memorial service for Ambassador Richard Holbrooke – JANUARY 14, 2011 CSPAN (Filter by Speaker) 

To End a War (Book) 

  1. To End a War (Modern Library Paperbacks) Paperback – May 25, 1999 by Richard Holbrooke (Author) 

Filmmaker David Holbrooke recalls his late father’s career the film and truly made a powerful tribute to his dad, while giving us a brilliant lesson in foreign affairs from the White House. With obvious unprecedented acces, David was able to put together the following talking heads: 

  1. Secretary of State MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, 
  2. Retired General WESLEY CLARK, 
  3. Former President BILL CLINTON, 
  4. Secretary of State HILLARY CLINTON, 
  5. National Security Advisor TOM DONILON, 
  6. Former Vice President AL GORE, 
  7. Ambassador CHRIS HILL, 
  8. 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan. 
  9. Secretary of State JOHN KERRY, 
  10. Secretary of State HENRY KISSINGER,
  11. President of Afghanistan, ASHRAF GHANI,  
  12. Permanent Representative to NATO, DOUG LUTE, 
  13. Retired General DAVID PETRAEUS, 
  14. Ambassador to the UN, SAMANTHA POWER, 
  15. Deputy Secretary of State STROBE TALBOTT, 

And from some of my favourite journalists out there: 

  1. CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN
  2. ROGER COHEN, New York Times 
  3. RONAN FARROW, MSNBC
  4. DEXTER FILKINS, The New Yorker
  5. JOE KLEIN, Time Magazine
  6. STAN KARNOW, Historian
  7. GEORGE PACKER, The New Yorker
  8. DAVID ROHDE, Thomson Reuters

Articles related to topic: 

Some of the historical unforgettable quotes, about United States foreign policies when Holbrooke was appointed as a special adviser on Pakistan and Afghanistan. This while working under President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a frustrating assignment which was said to have caused his health to deteriorate (wikipedia).

“The world seems to be coming apart again, and why do we have to lose one person who seems to able to put things together?”. Bill Clinton about Richard Holbrooke. 

“You had an organisation chart that made no sense. “It was portfolio without power” David Holbrooke, about the Afghan policy makers vs. The White House. 

“Afghanistan can not be stabilised without the help of Pakistan.” David Holbrooke. 

"I will write my strategy myself, an odd thing to say because he doesn’t have a strategic sense, so what he thinks is strategy is actually political (about National Security Advisor TOM DONILON). That really is way the White House thinks. They don’t have a deep understanding about the issues themselves but increasingly they are deluding themselves in in thinking they do." David Holbrooke. 

“You can kill an afghan with cotton but never with a sword.” President of Afghanistan, ASHRAF GHANI. 

“There’s nothing on Earth like vitality. And every time he walked in a room, it would be more questions, more energy for the answers and more passion, more passionate certainty that we could be better at something.”  – Daine Sawyer. 

"We could have never reached peace without Richard Holbrooke,” reflects Alija Izetbegović Izetbegovic’s son. 

No End in Sight (2007) 

Also recommend the 2007 ‘No End in Sight’ (TRAILER) Doc. from Academy award winning Director Charles Ferguson on AskTheRightQuestion. The Documentary (culled 200 hrs. of Iraq footage) provides you with a comprehensive look at George W. Bush’ Administration’s conduct of the Iraq war, which happened on false pretences as we all know now (operation curveball), and its occupation of the country, which was a true debacle. 

A-One-to-WATCH! Photo credit: HBO, The Diplomat.