President Joe Biden first learned on Tuesday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was diagnosed with prostate cancer in December and underwent surgery to treat it, White House and Pentagon officials said Tuesday. did.
Mr. Biden was first informed of his early December diagnosis and subsequent Dec. 22 surgery by his chief of staff, Jeff Zients, on Tuesday, according to National Security Council Strategic Communications Coordinator John Kirby.
The belated announcement comes after the Pentagon revealed on January 5 that Austin had been hospitalized on January 1, New Year's Day, for complications in what was then described as an “elective medical procedure.” I was disappointed.
Austin was admitted to the hospital on Dec. 22 and underwent a prostatectomy, during which he was under general anesthesia, the Pentagon announced Tuesday. Austin recovered and returned home the next morning. He transferred some authority to Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, the Pentagon said.
However, on January 1, Austin experienced severe nausea and abdominal, lower back, and leg pain. Her initial tests revealed she had a urinary tract infection, and on January 1 she was admitted to intensive care, where tests revealed that ascites had impaired the function of her small intestine. . She had to have a tube put in her nose to drain water from her stomach. The Pentagon said Austin did not lose consciousness during his stay.
At some point on January 2nd, Austin transferred some of his authority to Hicks, but did not tell Hicks that he was hospitalized until January 4th, when he was asked by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. Sullivan told Biden. Mr. Biden assumed full responsibility for his office on January 5th. But it wasn't until January 9 that Austin told Biden that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and underwent surgery in December.
Mr. Austin's failure to tell his superiors about his cancer diagnosis and treatment calls into question Mr. Biden's own knowledge of the whereabouts of his defense secretary. The U.S. military has become a near-target, especially when the U.S. military is supporting Israel and Ukraine in the midst of a bitter war. Iran-backed proxy militias carry out daily attacks in Iraq and Syria, and the Red Sea is under barrage from U.S. warships and commercial vessels by Houthi rebels.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers are outraged by the breakdown in communication between Mr. Biden and Mr. Austin, calling for national command authority, the power to convey lawful orders to the military, at such a difficult time. He points out that these are the only two members of Congress who are being held accountable. .
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed (D-RI) is a military veteran; scolded Austin issued a strongly worded statement on Monday:
I remain concerned that important chain of command and notification procedures were not followed while the Secretary was receiving treatment. He has taken responsibility for the situation, but this is a serious incident that demands transparency and accountability from the department.
This lack of information disclosure must never occur again. I am following the situation closely and the Department of Defense is well aware of my interest in all relevant information.
The Pentagon on Tuesday announced it would investigate and vowed to do better. But soon after, news broke that the White House would conduct its own investigation into what happened and require all government agencies to submit protocols for delegation of authority.
But these measures did not resolve the simple question of why the commander-in-chief's own defense secretary was not informed of his incapacity sooner.
At Tuesday's White House press briefing, Fox News correspondent Peter Doocy said: Asked Kirby: “What kind of commander in chief is President Biden to be able to go days without knowing that his secretary of defense is hospitalized while American troops are under fire in the Middle East?''
“At no time has the ability of the U.S. military to protect our national security interests been compromised, and the commander in chief does not always command and control U.S. forces around the world,” Kirby said. There wasn't,” he claimed.
Doocy went on to ask, “Why should I ever believe anything this administration says about anything again?”
Kirby acknowledged that “this didn't play out the way it should have played out on many levels, not just the chain of command notification process, but transparency issues,” but defended Austin as “an anomaly” and said Biden He said he remains confident. he.
But he placed the blame on Austin, not Biden.
“What happened here is the responsibility of the Secretary of Defense for some reason – I can't answer the question of why – that information is not widely shared within the Department, and certainly not with you. It wasn't shared,” Kirby told reporters. “That's certainly not good, but that's why we want to learn from this. We want to prevent something like this from happening again.”
Follow Christina Wong on Breitbart News “X,” society of truth,or Facebook.
