Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century

by George Packer

“Are you telling me that we have thousands of people drowning in the open sea, and we have the Seventh Fleet right there, and we can’t help them?” The vice president told the admiral to carry out the mission or find another job. A couple of months later, Mondale flew by helicopter over Manila Bay to an aircraft carrier involved in the rescue operation. “I didn’t like the mission when I got those orders,” the ship’s commander told Mondale. “I thought it would demoralize my sailors…I was dead wrong.” The sailors reveled in saving the lives of boat people. “It’s going to make a difference to the way those people think about America,” the commander said. “Because when their life was at risk, they saw this ship with an American flag come up and these young guys go down and pick them up. They felt safe for the first time in months. The world looked better to them. It’s hard to stay mad at a policy like that.”

That time off Vietnam....when America did the right thing...