Is Richard Holbrooke Ascendent?

In their 100 Days chat about Obama's foreign policy, the Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg and Robert Kaplan agree that Richard Holbrooke is extending his envoyhood to the entire Near-East (with the exception of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.) Their primary piece of evidence: Holbrooke's just hired a pre-eminent Iran expert, Tuft's Vali Nasr. Does this mean that Dennis Ross is losing power/influence/authority? Goldberg: "This is not to disparage George Mitchell or Dennis Ross in any way, but Richard Holbrooke is a human hurricane, and I wouldn't be surprised if he essentially becomes the off-shore Hillary Clinton."  And Kaplan suggests that Holbrooke will bide his time before "poaching" the Middle East from envoy George Mitchell. 

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2009/04/is-richard-holbrooke-ascendent/16730/