Richard Holbrooke — American Public Servant born on April 24, 1941, died on December 13, 2010

Richard Charles Albert Holbrooke was an American diplomat, magazine editor, author, professor, Peace Corps official, and investment banker... (wikipedia)

World War I was not inevitable, as many historians say. It could have been avoided, and it was a diplomatically botched negotiation.
A peace deal requires agreements, and you don't make agreements with your friends, you make agreements with your enemies.
In short, you can't let the deadline define the mission. The mission has to define the duration.
I think history is continuous. It doesn't begin or end on Pearl Harbor Day or the day Lyndon Johnson withdraws from the presidency or on 9/11. You have to learn from the past but not be imprisoned by it. You need to take counsel of history but never be imprisoned by it.
You will never catch up with the spread of AIDS no matter how much money, no matter how many antiretrovirals are put into the system, unless you stop its growth. And the only way to stop its growth is prevention.