Holbrooke's "stop this war" comment called banter by those who knew him well

[Elmore Furth]

I still think the plea to stop the Afghanistan War would be fitting final words for Holbrooke.

As friends and colleagues from four decades of diplomatic life reflected on the intensity of Richard C. Holbrooke's dedication, many were not surprised to learn that concerns about the Afghanistan war were apparently among his final thoughts.

After Holbrooke's death Monday, The Washington Post, citing his family members, reported that the veteran diplomat had told his physician just before surgery Friday to As friends and colleagues from four decades of diplomatic life reflected on the intensity of Richard C. Holbrooke's dedication, many were not surprised to learn that concerns about the Afghanistan war were apparently among his final thoughts.

After Holbrooke's death Monday, The Washington Post, citing his family members, reported that the veteran diplomat had told his physician just before surgery Friday to "stop this war."

As physician Jehan El-Bayoumi was attending to Holbrooke in the emergency room at George Washington University Hospital, she told him to relax and asked what she could do to comfort him, according to an aide who was present.

Holbrooke's war remark called banter, not entreaty

[Luminous Animal]

1. So he was a warmongering piece of shit, was he?

[pnwmom]

2. No, he was a man trying to use a little humor to deal with

one of the most frightening moments of his life.

For many people (and their doctors) humor is a coping mechanism during difficult times. Even dark humor.

[liberal N proud]

3. Dying words are banter?

[JoePhilly]

4. They weren't his "dying words" ...

"Dying words" are the last words uttered, usually in a movie ... the person knows that they are about to die any second, and they say something important and profound ... let out a last breath, and they die.

That is not what happened to Holbrooke. Holbrooke is about to go in for major surgery. He is not yet "dying" ... like many people in that situation, he jokes with his surgeons that the real source of his immediate anxiety is not the surgery, a surgery during which he may die, but the war in Afghanistan.

Reagan did the same thing. After being shot, and rushed to the hospital, he said to his surgeon's "I hope you are all Republicans."

Not dying words.