Was it a dying man’s last (literal) words, or just a little repartee? That’s the question surrounding the final remarks of veteran diplomat Richard Holbrooke before he passed away last week from heart problems.

 

Holbrooke, the Obama administration’s top negotiator on the Afghanistan war, reportedly told doctors prior to surgery: “You’ve got to stop this war in Afghanistan.”

 

With these words spreading around the Internet, giving the appearance that the administration’s point man had given up on the war, the State Department went into full spin mode, insisting Holbrooke was merely joking with his doctors.

 

After talking to some of those who were supposedly in the hospital room, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told the media that the medical staff at George Washington University Hospital engaged Holbrooke in some witty back-and-forth in an effort to get the tireless diplomat to relax.

 

“And Richard said, ‘I can’t relax, I’m worried about Afghanistan and Pakistan,’” Crowley reported. “After some additional exchanges, the medical team finally said, ‘Tell you what, we’ll try to fix this challenge while you’re undergoing surgery.’ And [Holbrooke] said, ‘Yeah, see if you can take care of that, including ending the war.’”

 

Added Crowley: “But certainly, it says two things about Richard Holbrooke in my mind. Number one, he always wanted to make sure he got the last word. And secondly, it just showed how he was singularly focused on pursuing and advancing the process and the policies in Afghanistan and Pakistan to bring them to a successful conclusion.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Holbrooke's Last Words on Afghanistan Clarified as Being Part of a Humorous Exchange by Obama Administration (by Amanda Terkel, Huffington Post)

Holbrooke's Last Words on the Afghan War (by Rajiv Chandrasekaran and Karen DeYoung, Washington Post)