Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, the administration's Special
Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, will travel to New York Thursday
to undergo angioplasty due to possible clogged heart valves.
Steve Clemons, New America Foundation's foreign policy head
and editor of the Washington Note, broke the news with Holbrooke's permission after he informed his staff at
meeting Tuesday morning. From Steve's post:
Yesterday at 2 pm, Richard Holbrooke was told that
he may have some clogged heart valves -- and is going in Thursday for an
angiogram and further treatment in New York. He was supposed to travel with
Jack Lew, Rajiv Shah and others with General David Petraeus on a major AfPak
trip this week, but will have to forego that trip.
Holbrooke assured me that this kinds of things are
routine now. He shared the news with Secretary of State Clinton last night --
and was in the process of contacting General Petraeus during our meeting.
When at the end of his staff meeting he conveyed
this personal news to the 50 members of his team, he was very low key and
laughing about it. There were looks of concern around the room -- but he looked
at them in his paternal way paused and said with a wry grin as if he'd never
offered this sort of thing to them before "Come talk to me. I want you to
share all of your angioplasty stories with me."
We send along our best hopes and wishes to Holbrooke for a healthy diagnosis
and speedy treatment. Holbrooke told Clemons he plans to be back to work on
Monday.
In the text of your article you stated incorrectly that Ambassador Holbrooke would be going to New York for an "angioplasty." As Steve Clemons stated in his blog post, Holbrooke is getting an angiogram (sometimes called a cardiac catheterization). An angioplasty and an angiogram are not the same thing. An angiogram is a diagnostic procedure that can, among other things, determine whether coronary arteries are blocked or heart valves are damaged; this is the procedure Holbrooke is getting. An angioplasty is used to open blocked coronary arteries; it is not used for patients with valve problems.
Please correct the typo.
Josh Rogin reports on national security and foreign policy from the Pentagon to Foggy Bottom, the White House to Embassy Row, for The Cable.
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