Mitchell and Holbrooke to be named envoys, Obama to visit Foggy Bottom

Posted By Laura Rozen Thursday, January 22, 2009 - 2:30 PM Share

It's been rumored for days, but former Senate majority leader George Mitchell and former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Richard Holbrooke will be officially named as U.S. envoys today, the Washington Post reports: Mitchell on the Middle East, and Holbrooke on Afghanistan, Pakistan, "and related matters," the paper says.

Meantime, President Barack Obama will join newly confirmed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in addressing State Department employees at 2:40pm this afternoon. Among the White House entourage expected to accompany Obama to Foggy Bottom: national security advisor Gen. Jim Jones and his deputy at the NSC, Tom Donilon.

Obvious message: Diplomacy's back.

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DATROY

4:33 PM ET

January 22, 2009

Diplomacy never went

Diplomacy never went anywhere. We fought a war with Iraq and a war with Afghanistan. I don't recall any other wars. That would suggest everything else was handled diplomatically.

BRETT

8:18 PM ET

January 22, 2009

Holbrooke's a good choice,

Holbrooke's a good choice, although I don't know if I consider the current Bosnian governmental system that resulted from the Bosnian peace accords to be a shining example of post-war governance.