Who is Wounded Now?

So, General McChrystal has been called to the Principal's office tomorrow to explain his ill-considered remarks in the Rolling Stone article that will be released Friday.

How ironic that one of the senior officials McChrystal dissed in that interview was Richard Holbrooke, Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan:

Some of the strongest criticism, however, was reserved for Richard Holbrooke, Obama's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"The boss says he's like a wounded animal," one of the general's aides was quoted as saying. "Holbrooke keeps hearing rumors that he's going to get fired, so that makes him dangerous."

If those general's aides are betting men, I'd lay odds with them that SRAP Holbrooke will be around to see General McChrystal's departure.

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p.s.

And another thing - what is up with McChrystal and his aides giving their overly-candid remarks to Rolling Stone in the first place? What does that tell you about the quality of McChrystal's staff, much less about the great man himself?

As Victor Davis Hanson just remarked:

If an officer cannot figure out Rolling Stone, how can he understand the Taliban?

Hillary's Calling the Plays, Says Washington Times

Hillary Clinton only seems to have receded into the background of the Obama administration, according to a story in the Washington Times. She's really in the backfield, being the foreign policy quarterback who hands the ball off to running backs and tosses long bombs to her intended receivers.

'Proxy' diplomats deployed for crises:

If President Clinton was known for political triangulation, his wife is establishing herself as the quarterback of a multidirectional diplomatic offense.

Sen. John Kerry's dramatic insertion into talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai last week marked the third time the Obama administration has used proxy diplomats to resolve major foreign crises.

While critics of the approach say it is undermining Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and regular diplomatic channels, Mr. Kerry and State Department officials say that the secretary fully supported the senator's unusual role.

But doesn't it cause problems to have so many special teams running around?

To supporters, the Obama administration's use of proxies demonstrates a highly pragmatic approach to foreign policy. To critics, it is a short-term strategy that may undermine Mrs. Clinton and her regular diplomats, confuse U.S. allies and embolden the nation's enemies.

Mr. Kerry's sudden elevation to such a crucial role in the region now at the center of U.S. foreign-policy attention raised questions, not only about Mrs. Clinton's role, but that of Richard C. Holbrooke, the administration's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"The secretary of state herself is undermined by a very wide array of special envoys and special advisers," said Nile Gardiner, a foreign-policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank.

With Mr. Kerry's star turn, Mr. Gardiner said, "You even have the extraordinary situation of a special envoy being undermined by a special adviser."

and,

Michael J. Green, a former top adviser on Asian affairs in the George W. Bush White House, agreed that "proxies can confuse people."

In the case of Mr. Webb's trip to Myanmar, also known as Burma [last August, during which he met with dissident Aung San Sui Kyi as well as with the military junta] , Mr. Green said, the senator "ended up confusing the message - leading many in the region to think the administration would lift sanctions on Burma when there was never any chance of that."

You would think that the owner of our foreign policy franchise would at some point either sign those diplomatic free agents or tell them to get off the field.

Holbrooke Surfaces

Ask, and ye shall receive. The day before yesterday I wondered what had happened to Richard Holbrooke, and today he turned up giving an on-the-record press briefing at the State Department.

His answer to the press corps's first question included what may have been either a transcription error or a Freudian slip:

And for those of you who haven’t followed this as carefully as [questioner Daniel Dombey of the Financial Times] did, I want to be very clear: There were different kinds of programs we have in Afghanistan, and some of them ... have proceeded without any effect.

Just as I'd feared.

Where in the World is Richard Holbrooke?

The Washington Times has an interesting story about the curious absence from public view of Richard Holbrooke, United States Special Envoy on Pakistan and Afghanistan. What could be the cause of this low profile, especially for a public figure who is "known for his love of the press?"

President Obama called Richard Holbrooke "one of the most talented diplomats of his generation" when he named the globe-trotting foreign policy expert to be special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. But 10 months later, Mr. Holbrooke was anchored in Washington and far from the front lines of diplomacy that led to Tuesday's Afghan election deal.

The Obama administration used other intermediaries to apply the pressure that got Afghan President Hamid Karzai to agree to a runoff after fraud-tainted elections.

And when Mr. Obama praised his diplomatic team for its success, Mr. Holbrooke's name was pointedly missing. There was high praise for U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry and "great congratulations" to Sen. John Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat, who met with Mr. Karzai.

Could Holbrooke be the scapegoat for an administration that has no path forward on Afghanistan?

Mr. [Steve] Clemons [executive vice president at the New America Foundation who runs a popular foreign policy blog, The Washington Note] said Mr. Holbrooke is being made a fall guy for an "absence of presidential vision and clarity."

"Holbrooke was loyal to the vision that Obama laid out last March, which proved to be an ineffective, incomplete and semidisconnected [vision]," Mr. Clemons said. "Some people are trying to pin on Richard the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and the relationship with Karzai, but all of that was deteriorating before."

It must be a great comfort for Mr. Holbrooke to have a friend and supporter like Steve Clemons who will defend him when he can't speak to the press for himself.

I see that the Board of Directors of Mr. Clemons's New America Foundation includes Kati Marton, an author and journalist (whose book about the assassination of Count Folke Bernadotte, A Death in Jerusalem, I highly recommend, BTW). Kati Marton also happens to be the wife of the curiously quiet Richard Holbrooke.

I get the feeling that Steve Clemons will be channeling a lot of Richard Holbrooke's thoughts in the coming months.