Posted on 01/21/2009 4:19:56 PM PST by SJackson
Now that Hillary Clinton has been confirmed as Secretary of State, the Obama administration will announce Thursday two high-profile appointments -- former senate majority leader George Mitchell (D-Me.) as Middle East envoy and former U.N. ambassador Richard Holbrooke as envoy for Afghanistan, Pakistan "and related matters," sources close to the administration said.
Mitchell will be charged with rebuilding the Middle East peace process in the wake of the three weeks of violence between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Holbrooke will take on the difficult job of soothing relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, whose border is a haven for the Taliban and is believed to harbor Osama Bin Laden. Left unsaid is that Holbrooke's brief could extend to India, which has been a victim of Islamic terrorism from Pakistan but is suspicious of third-party intervention in the dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir.
Both men are highly regarded for their diplomatic skills but have vastly different styles. Mitchell, a former federal judge, calmly and patiently approaches difficult issues while the hard-charging Holbrooke is known as a demanding task-master.
(Excerpt) Read more at voices.washingtonpost.com ...
High Volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel. or WOT [War on Terror]
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Hope and Change=Back to the Clintons. Been there, done that.
“The only thing missing in the new Clinton Administration is...um... Bill Clinton”
Unofficial position, Foundation Funding.
I have great respect for Sen Mitchell. I have no doubt that he will do the best job he is allowed to do. I believe Sen. Mitchell to be 100% above corruption!
Gosh, I can hardly keep up with all the change.
I’m going to assume you forgot the sarcasm tag.....
I've no question of his honesty, though he carries "evenhandedness" to the point of not recognizing the difference between terrorist and victim.
Not to mention we've tried the Mitchell/Clinton approach, which accomplished about the same as the Bush/Powell/Rice approach.
Not change, just more of the same.
Envoys are just a way to funnel more of our money to the welfare-state Pali regions while the Arab countries stand by, watch approvingly and wonder just exactly how stupid we are.
We should not send anyone or any funds over to Gaza and the West Bank until the Palis fully accept Israel and its right to exist in that region. We have done this experiment time and time before and know exactly what the outcome will be: our money gets wasted on weapons, more people get killed and no positions are changed.
I agree completely, aid should be contingent on joining the civilized world. We shouldn't be supporting their hate media or arming their terrorists.
Holbrooke should be successful at one thing: Bore-assing Pakistan and Afghanistan to death.
Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dumber
It would be hard to think of two more ineffective envoys.
1999 to 2001 : (CLINTON ADMIN : HOLBROOKE IS UN ENVOY -- see KOFI ANNAN, IRAQ OIL FOR FOOD SCANDAL ) Richard Holbrooke... was U.N. envoy from 1999 to 2001 in the Democratic administration of ...President Bill Clinton. ------- "Bolton Faces Fight Over U.N. Envoy Post -Holbrooke," Reuters, Mon Mar 21, 2005Pretty good return on the money depending how the cash was divied up- give the UN $1 billion and receive all the accolades as a philanthropist, while your buddies and special interests quietly make off with $60 billion.2004 late or early JANUARY 2005 : (NY : GAGGLE OF WINDBAGS CONVENE AT RICHARD HOLBROOKE'S REQUEST - PLAN TO SAVE KOFI ANNAN'S ARSE...--- See IRAQ OIL FOR FOOD SCANDAL, NORM COLEMAN OP ED, GEORGE SOROS, TED TURNER, JOHN KERRY, John Ruggie, Leslie Gelb, CFR, Tim Wirth, Kathy Bushkin, UN Foundation ) When the stink threatens to make even bureaucrats gag, somebody has to mop up some of the mess. When a gaggle of special pleaders met the other night in New York to talk about the puddle in the parlor at the United Nations, it wasn't clear whether they were interested in shaping up the U.N. or merely saving the job of Kofi Annan, the bureaucrats' favorite bureaucrat. .......What frightened the coterie to action then, and no doubt Mr. Annan yesterday, is the growing sentiment in Congress to do something about corruption at the U.N., or else. .......
There was considerable wetting of well-tailored pants at the U.N. last month with the publication of Mr. Coleman's op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, in which he asked the pointed question obvious to everyone: "If this widespread corruption had occurred in any legitimate organization around the world, its CEO would have been ousted long ago. Why is the U.N. different?"
Why, indeed. Mr. Coleman, a moderate Republican in only his second year in the Senate, is not through yet. He is the chairman of the Senate's permanent investigating subcommittee and intends to hotly pursue the scam artists who stole much of the $60 billion — that's "billion" with a "b" — in oil profits meant for food and medicines to be waved through the U.N. sanctions. ...Mr. Annan reassured the U.N. Security Council that Mr. Volcker's conclusions "will be made available to the public in a form that will take into account the rights of staff members and, where necessary, respect any undertakings as to confidentiality that may have been granted by the inquiry."
Translation to plainspeak: "The fix is in. If you don't like the stink, get a bigger clothespin." (Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
--------- "Kofi gets a cuddle from his friends," Wesley Pruden, Washington Times, 1/04/05
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To: backhoe
We can clearly conclude, from this passage in the article, that Ted Turner for some reason thinks he controls the UN and hence the world. (Chuckle)
Richard Holbrooke, who was Bill Clinton's ambassador to the U.N., called the save-Kofi meeting to order in his Manhattan apartment in early December, and the New York Times yesterday identified some of the other participants as John Ruggie, a former assistant secretary-general for strategic planning at the U.N., parked now as a professor at Harvard; Leslie Gelb, a former president of the Council on Foreign Relations; Tim Wirth, the former senator from Colorado and president of the United Nations Foundation, the most visible result of Ted Turner's celebrated gift of $1 billion to the U.N.; and Kathy Bushkin, an operative in unsuccessful Democratic presidential campaigns and now the executive director of Ted Turner's foundation.
More to the point, which of Ted's rivals leaked the info about this "secret meeting" to the press?
8 posted on 01/08/2005 1:17:32 PM PST by TaxRelief | To 4
The starting point for Mitchell is for the Israelis and Palestinians to put their peace plan on the table starting with the recognition of each other.
Mitchell and Holbrooke, 0bozo’s gift to the enemy
Please note that Holbrooke is currently "working" for George Soros. Once Holbrooke left the Clinton White House, Soros gave him a cushy job as Chairman of one of Soros Private Equity Funds. Holbrooke should be making at least $5 - $10mm per year there.--------19 posted on 06/20/2004 3:37:06 AM PDT by ehoxha
Looks like it.
MARCH 2005 : (ALISTAIR CROOKE ORGANIZES ANOTHER SECRET MEETING WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF HAMAS, HEZBOLLAH, MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD, JAMAAT-AL-ISLAMY AND "SOME AMERICANS"---- SEE DPTY HAMAS LEADER MUSA ABU MARZOUK, FREDERIC HOF {see Armitage Associates & GEORGE MITCHELL 2001 COMISSION on the Palestinian intifada}, BOBBY MULLER {see VVAF [INDOCHINA PROJECT]}) the Sunday Times [http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1543330,00.html] reported that Mr Crooke had organised another secret meeting, this time between Hamas, Hezbollah, Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, Pakistan’s Jamiat-i-Islami and -- wait for it -- the Americans.
------------- "The crooked response to terror," April 19, 2005, http://www.melaniephillips.com/diary/archives/001143.html as retrieved on Jan 21, 2007 10:30:50 GMT.
Americans? Who would participate in this?
IN an underground car park in the centre of Beirut, a bald man emerged from his Mercedes, surrounded by a phalanx of armed bodyguards.Hmm . Frederic Hof & Bobby Muller... who are they?
As deputy leader of Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, Musa Abu Marzouk is a potential target for assassination by Israel. Yet there to greet him last week was Alistair Crooke, a veteran of nearly 30 years with MI6 and until recently a European Union negotiator with the Palestinians.
As they made their way upstairs, they were joined by several Americans, some of them former members of the CIA and others with links to the US administration. They had gathered in the Lebanese capital for an initiative launched by Crooke: the first talks for more than 10 years between senior Americans and radical groups denounced as terrorists by Washington.
....Among the US delegates was Frederic Hof, staff director of a 2001 commission on the Palestinian intifada led by George Mitchell, a former senator. They also included Bobby Muller, a Vietnam veteran and joint winner of the 1997 Nobel peace prize for his campaign against landmines.
Israel was not slow to condemn the meeting, accusing the American delegates of “extreme naivety” in imagining that they could draw groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah on to a peaceful path. “It does no good to appease or negotiate with such terrorists,” a government spokesman said.
Crooke said the Americans were there to listen and not to give advice, and emphasised that they did not represent “anyone but themselves”. The results of the two-day meeting would be passed to the Bush administration, he said. ...
------------- "Ex-MI6 man starts US-Hamas talks," by Stephen Grey in Beirut, From The Sunday Times [UK] March 27, 2005 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article438334.ece
* Frederic Hof, a partner in Armitage Associates L.C., left government in 1993 as a member of the Senior Executive Service of the United States. ... www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Peace/67line.htmland
* Bobby Muller is the President of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation. ... Raised in a New York City suburb, Bobby Muller's commission with the US ... www.theglobalist.com/DBWeb/AuthorBiography.aspx?AuthorId=426 - 61k -
The WaPo will never tell you that Mitchell is of Arabic ancestry (Lebanese) on his mother's side and he was raised in an Arab-American environment in Maine by his mother and her relatives. (He got the family name Mitchell through a father of Irish ancestry who left the family when George Jr. was very young. Mitchell's Irish ancestry, though much played up by the Clintonistas when they sent him to Northern Ireland, had very little influence on his formative identity.)
Mitchell has also been affiliated with and spoken before Arab-interest groups in the US during the time he was in the Senate.
So he's hardly entering as a neutral in O's Israel-Arab "peace" process.
Please see my post # 20. Mitchell’s family background seems to have had a lot of influence on his thinking and activities in the Middle East. Didn’t know about the link to obvious terrorist groups, though. Good post.
These people are like the un-dead. You never see the last of them.
ping
Thanks for updating this thread piasa.
BO is like BJ — they both give one headaches and indigestion.
I didn’t know about Mitchell’s backgroundbut it does explain his interests.
I had three bowls of chili and too many carbonated beverages - if I get any more indigestion from these left-leaning spice traders the house is going to look like an inaugeral johnny-on-the-spot malfunction.
Thanks justiceseeker93. In addition, Holbrooke was involved in the destruction of Yugoslavia and creation of a Moslem terrorist enclave.
Of course you didn't, it wouldn't be something that the pro-'Rat MSM would be normally playing up, although the NY Slimes mentioned it in a semi-biographical piece about 20 years ago, and they bill themselves as the "newspaper of record."
Oh my gosh...visualizing a bad science experiment now.
I don't think the Lebanese Christian ancestry is a problem. Consider Brigitte Gabriel. I think George Mitchell has the same problems as people who might have been born in Arkansas.
ML/NJ
One big difference between Mitchell and Gabriel: Gabriel grew up in a Lebanon where Muslims were at the throats of Christians, whereas Mitchell’s Arabic Christian(?) forebears never had that immediate history, coming to the US much before that era.
I would think people who are elected or accepting positions in our government would want the public to know. It is their responsibility to tell us.
Thanks for the heads up on that!
all i can remember him saying about Mccain was .. getting his policies and people “that’s not change”
someone should do a montage about his cabinet picks and keep using his own words after every pick.
The Anointed One is a great fiend to all..
The Anointed One is a great fiend to all..
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=52777
Obama Appoints Special Envoys, Underscores Importance of Diplomacy
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Jan. 22, 2009 – President Barack Obama traveled to the State Department today to announce the appointment of two special envoys: former Maine Sen. George Mitchell as special envoy for Middle East peace and Richard Holbrooke as special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The president thanked the men for taking on the tasks; both are seasoned diplomats with Mitchell negotiating in Northern Ireland and Holbrooke responsible for the Dayton Accords that brought peace to Bosnia.
The president spoke to the assembled foreign service and civil service audience about the importance of democracy to his administration, echoing themes from his inaugural speech.
“We must recognize that America’s strength comes not just from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from our enduring values,” he said. “And for the sake of our national security and the common aspirations of people around the globe, this era has to begin now.”
Diplomacy will lead U.S. efforts throughout the world, Obama said.
“It will be the policy of my administration to actively and aggressively seek a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians, as well as Israel and its Arab neighbors,” the president said.
Mitchell “will be fully empowered at the negotiating table,” Obama said.
The president reiterated U.S. support and commitment to Israeli security. “We will always support Israel’s right to defend itself against legitimate threats,” he said. “For years, Hamas has launched thousands of rockets at innocent Israeli citizens. No democracy can tolerate such danger to its people, nor should the international community and neither should the Palestinian people themselves, whose interests are only set back by acts of terror.”
While Hamas rockets are unacceptable, so is a future without hope for Palestinians, Obama said. “I was deeply concerned by the loss of Palestinian and Israeli life in recent days, and by the substantial suffering and humanitarian needs in Gaza,” he said. “Now we must extend a hand of opportunity to those who seek peace.”
Obama called Afghanistan and Pakistan the central front in the enduring struggle against terrorism and extremism.
“We must understand that we cannot deal with our problem in isolation,” he said. “There is no answer in Afghanistan that does not confront the al-Qaida and Taliban bases along the border. And there will be no lasting peace unless we expand spheres of opportunity for the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan.”
Any progress in the region will take time, Obama said. Violence in Afghanistan has risen, insurgents fielded and the opium trade has grown. Outside Kabul, the Afghan government is unable to deliver basic services.
“While we have yet to see another attack on our soil since 9/11, al-Qaida terrorists remain at large and remain plotting,” Obama said.
The United States aims to strengthen partnerships with regional governments and sustain cooperation with NATO allies.
“We will provide the strategic guidance to meet our objectives,” the president said. “And we pledge to support the extraordinary Americans serving in Afghanistan, both military and civilian, with the resources that they need.”
The president also spoke on the executive orders he signed earlier today. The orders call for all U.S. interrogations to abide by rules articulated in the Army Field Manual 2-22.3; the closure of the detention camp at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station, Cuba; and a comprehensive review to determine how to hold and try terrorism suspects.
“The world needs to understand that America will be unyielding in defense of its security and relentless in its pursuit of those who would carry out terrorism or threaten the United States,” he said.
These orders send the signal to the world that the United States will uphold its fundamental values even when threatened, he said.
“Once again America’s moral example must be the bedrock and the beacon of our global leadership,” Obama said. “We are confronted by extraordinary, complex and interconnected global challenges: war on terror, sectarian division and the spread of deadly technology. We did not ask for the burden that history has asked us to bear, but Americans will bear it. We must bear it.”
http://www.mideastweb.org/mitchell_report.htm
#
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=7E652C4D-2AAF-4D28-8660-0F1619D7D7E3
“Obama’s New Middle East Envoy”
By David Bedein
FrontPageMagazine.com | Friday, January 23, 2009
SNIPPET: “Now that President Obama has appointed former Senator George Mitchell as his Middle East envoy, it appears timely to reflect on George Mitchell’s 2001 Report, entitled The Mitchell Report on the Al-Aqsa Intifadeh.
To refresh the memory of the reader: In late October, 2000, US president Clinton appointed an international investigation commission to investigate the causes of renewed massive violence in Israel, naming an Arab American and former US Senator, George Mitchell, as its chairman, and a Jewish-American, also a former US senator, Warren Rudman, to the panel, together with three prominent European diplomats”
SNIPPET: “In conclusion, the Mitchell Commission drew a strange comparison between “settlement activities” and the Palestinian ability to resume negotiations, so long as “settlement activities” continue, introducing an excuse for the PLO to continue its armed conflict.
In short, the Mitchell Commission Report drove a nail into the coffin of any credibility that George Mitchell can ever have as a Middle East envoy.”
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