All of Hillary's men

22 January 2009

With Hillary Rodham Cinton assuming charge as the country's 67th secretary of state, the stage is set for a number of high profile appointments at the State Department. Announcements are expected that would see high profile appointments made to oversee at least two notable hotspots around the world – the Middle East and the Indian sub-continent, including Afghanistan.

Expected to be slotted in as special envoys to handle these regions are former senate majority leader George Mitchell, as Middle East envoy and former UN ambassador Richard Holbrooke as envoy for Afghanistan, Pakistan "and related matters." This nicety would allow Holbrooke's brief to extend to India, and let Americans circumvent the perennial problem of hyphenating India and Pakistan over all issues – a game they have relished playing in the past.

Both men have impressive credentials in the field of diplomacy and are highly regarded for their skills.

India has always been suspicious of third-party intervention in the dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir and has let it be known that it would not be interested in plenipotentiaries muddying waters unnecessarily.

But then noises made outside in public may not reflect realities governing inner policy-making councils.

Mitchell takes over at a time when Israel has just wrapped up a bloody campaign in Gaza aimed at dismembering the Islamist Hamas movement. The three weeks of violence has resulted in at least four and a half thousand Palestinian casualties, dead and wounded. Thirteen Israeli casualties also figure on the list of dead and wounded.