(RepublicanJournal.org) – The New Year did not find the world at peace. Russian troops are still trying to overrun Ukraine. Israel is fighting a war with Hamas. Iran’s proxies are attacking shipping on a key global trade route. The US needs strong, effective security. But the man appointed to run our military isn’t at his desk –- and for days nobody would reveal what was wrong with him.
On January 7, a Pentagon spokesman admitted that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin hadn’t been at work for weeks. Major General Pat Ryder said Austin went on leave and had an “elective medical procedure” at Walter Reed military hospital on December 22. He returned home after the operation, but on January 1, he started suffering from “severe” pain and was admitted to Walter Reed’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Ryder refused to provide details of Austin’s medical condition, citing privacy reasons. He also said there’s no specific date as to when Austin will be released from the hospital but insisted the defense secretary has now resumed his duties and has “full access” to the communications facilities he needs to do his job.
Communications don’t seem to be the DoD’s strong point right now, though. A senior defense official has leaked what’s really been happening, and it sounds like chaos. Apparently, Austin had planned to work from home for the first week of January, but that plan fell apart when he suffered complications and went back into hospital.
Instead, “certain operational responsibilities that require constant secure communications” were transferred to Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks on January 2. The problem was that she was on vacation at the time –- and, while she apparently had a communications team with her, nobody told her Austin was in hospital until January 4.
As soon as she found out, she decided to return to Washington, DC, the next day –- only to be told that Austin, though still in hospital, had resumed his duties. Even worse, news of Austin’s hospitalization had also been kept from National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and even from President Biden.
It was revealed on January 9th that Lloyd Austin was hospitalized for treatment of prostate cancer.
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