Appointment of Richard Holbrooke unnerves South Asia

The new envoy, a veteran diplomat nicknamed 'the Bulldozer,' called the Afghan government a failure and put pressure on Pakistan to battle extremists.

By Paul Richter
LA Times
February 2, 2009

Reporting from Washington — President Obama has taken painstaking care in the first days of his administration to calm the waters of international relations with promises of cooperation and respect for other nations.

But his new envoy to South Asia has landed with a splash.

Officials in Afghanistan, Pakistan and India have reacted uneasily to the appointment of Richard Holbrooke, a veteran diplomat nicknamed "the Bulldozer."

Holbrooke, who embarks on his first official visit this week, has declared in recent months that the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, a longtime American ally, has failed. In opinion columns, he has pointed to "massive, officially sanctioned corruption," along with drugs, as the country's most severe problems.

Holbrooke has also called for vigorous action to deal with extremist sanctuaries in Pakistan. He charged that Pakistan has the power to destabilize its neighbor Afghanistan, "and has."

(More here.)