opinion
This weekend, news broke that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin started 2024 in the hospital and stayed there for several days, apparently without most of the world knowing — including his boss in the White House. Secretary Austin's secret hospital stay angered many in Congress and the media, wanting to know why the decision was made to keep the Secretary's condition in the dark and, perhaps more importantly, who made the decision to hide his location and medical condition.
Perhaps most telling is the lack of notification within the Pentagon itself, not to mention the fact that Prime Minister Austin and Commander-in-Chief Joe Biden were not notified until days later. Did the Minister make the decision, or when he was incapable, did a staff member drop the proverbial ball in at least notifying the Prime Minister?
Worse still, did the Minister's staff deliberately decide to hide information from the public? All these questions and more remain unanswered, while the Secretary remains, as far as the American public knows, in the hospital.
Complex complications
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was hospitalized on January 1 and placed in the intensive care unit for four days after experiencing severe pain following an elective surgery he underwent a few days earlier. According to Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Pat Ryder, the hospitalization was for the following reasons:
“…complications following a recent elective medical procedure.”
At this time, the elective procedure and details behind the complications remain murky, with the Pentagon citing privacy concerns as the reason behind the lack of transparency. However, it's not the medical details that make this newsworthy, as many high-ranking government officials undergo different medical procedures every year in each administration.
The media and the American public are angry because almost no one knew about the secretary's condition and whereabouts, including the White House. The Department of Defense did not notify the White House National Security Council until three days after he entered Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
RELATED: Viewers think Jill Biden had to scramble to lead the confused president off the stage
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General C. Q. Brown, was not notified until the next day, January 2. It is important to realize that General Brown is not actually within Secretary Austin's chain of command.
Military service secretaries up the chain of command were not notified until four days later, on January 5th. The White House, and therefore President Joe Biden, was not informed until three days later.
Oops, my bad
Since January 1, Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks has assumed Secretary Austin's duties. Deputy Secretary Hicks assumed his duties while on vacation in Puerto Rico.
According to a senior defense official, they are:
“…maintained full communication with the DoD staff at all times. I monitored the daily operations of the DoD and conducted some routine work.
During Secretary Austin's duties, Deputy Secretary Hicks was not informed of his assumption of responsibilities until January 4th. In response to the apparent blackout by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Pentagon Press Association wrote in a letter:
“At a time when threats to U.S. military service members in the Middle East are increasing and the United States plays key national security roles in the wars in Israel and Ukraine, it is especially important for the American public to be informed about the health status and decision-making capacity of its senior defense commander.
RELATED: National Security Council spokesman John Kirby snaps at reporter who suggested US has escalated tensions in the Middle East
Secretary Austin issued the following statement in which he made no apology for keeping his condition secret, instead saying:
“…I understand the media's concerns about transparency and recognize that I could have done a better job of ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I am committed to doing better.”
The real issue
An unnamed Pentagon official told CNN:
“There are all these people around the secretary at all times, managing him and helping him on a daily basis, and no one had enough to even tell the White House? “I'm surprised no one has used the word 'cover-up' yet.”
This unnamed source raises an excellent point that the mainstream media has not yet addressed. When an individual reaches a level like Secretary of Defense, he or she is given an entire team of individuals whose sole responsibility, the source said, is to “manage” the individual.
These are different types of assistants, executive assistants, and even special assistants who help with dry cleaning, laundry services, and house cleaning.
Basically, what this unnamed source found was one of two things that happened in this case:
- The Secretary's staff is so mismanaged and unqualified that at no point did they reach the logical conclusion that someone should tell the White House or…
- The decision not to tell the White House was made intentionally to keep it away from the president and his staff.
It's hard to know which of these scenarios is the worst. Senator Tom Cotton explained how important the role of Secretary of Defense is to the nation, saying:
“The Secretary of Defense is the key link in the chain of command between the President and the regular military, including the nuclear chain of command, when the most important decisions must be made in minutes.”
The Secretary of Defense is also sixth in the presidential line of succession, so this role and who will fill it is of great importance to the nation.
What the American public needs to confront is that this latest incident proves a possible number of things:
- The United States is run not by elected and appointed officials, but by unelected bureaucrats
- Those appointed by the Biden administration have no respect for the office of the President and/or
- The United States government is run by incompetent and negligent individuals
So much for transparency and accountability.
RELATED: Military unit responsible for defending the homeland is under investigation for daytime drinking
