Glittering Emissaries' Dazzle Wears Off in the Trenches.

When President Obama named two marquee diplomats as his special emissaries to the Middle East and to Afghanistan and Pakistan last January, many here wondered whether they would eclipse Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Nine months later, the two envoys, Richard C. Holbrooke and George J. Mitchell, are the ones fighting to stay in the limelight. For reasons having to do with personality clashes, deteriorating conditions on the ground and the sheer difficulty of reconciling old enemies, Mr. Holbrooke and Mr. Mitchell are both struggling with their portfolios, widely acknowledged to be the most treacherous in American foreign policy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]