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Re Richard Holbrooke, I don't know if it's true or not...but the first reports of his "last words"
before surgery and his death were said to be: "You've got to stop the war in Afghanistan".
Later a white house aide tried to spin Holbrooke's words into saying he was just making a joke.
This reminded me of a certain TV talk show back during Viet Nam War
when a frequent question from the "hawks" to the "doves" was a sarcastic:
"How do you propose to get us out of Viet Nam ?
Of course, the hawks believed it was so complicated and difficult their would be no answer to the question.
The answer from that weird actress, Shirley Maclaine, was: "By boat."
Of course it was had it's humorous affect, but it also cut through to what later became evident.
That war had past the point of being "winnable" and it was time to make specific plans for withdrawal.
But without those plans, the end went on to become a publicity fiasco for the US,
and a true disaster for many of our Vietnamese allies.
For far, I'm unable to see a path to the end of the "War on Terror".
Maybe an un-ending war is what some actually want. I hope not.
Meanwhile, I'm listening for some viable arguments or ideas...
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