News release: “Defense Department leaders today joined the president, vice president, secretary of state and others in mourning the death of U.S. Ambassador Richard C. Holbrooke. Holbrooke was serving as special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan when he died last night from a tear in his aorta. He fell ill during a Dec. 10 meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton at the State Department and was taken to a hospital here, where he underwent two lengthy operations over the weekend, according to a State Department news report released this morning. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates released a statement today calling Holbrooke “one of the most formidable and consequential public servants of his generation, bringing his uncommon passion, energy, tenacity, and intellect to bear on the most difficult national security issues of our time.” Gates went on to say that none of Holbrooke’s high-profile diplomatic assignments was more difficult than his last mission in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Still, he said, Holbrooke tackled the task “with the same drive that characterized everything he did during nearly five decades of public life. Richard’s talents and efforts were critically important to achieving our goals in that part of the world.”…Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, issued a statement from Iraq, where he was traveling as part of the USO holiday tour for troops. Holbrooke, he said, “never lost time fighting for ideals he believed in. He never lost touch with the problems faced by millions of people he never knew. And he never lost hope that those same people could live in peace, security and safety. Indeed, he shared their vivid aspirations.”