dChan
Anonymous ID: 572370 Jan. 8, 2024, 2:59 p.m. No.20208710   🗄️.is 🔗kun   >>8725 >>8744 >>8751 >>8924 >>8945 >>9004

>>20208672

Austin is still at Walter Reed

 

Why is Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin hospitalized? Why is he facing backlash?

 

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is facing mounting criticism after failing to disclose for days that he was hospitalized with a serious medical condition.

 

The Pentagon last week announced Austin was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for “complications following a recent elective medical procedure.” While Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said at the time the top official was “recovering well,” some immediately noticed there was a four-day delay between Austin entering the hospital and the Defense Department confirming the news.

 

Austin, who is sixth in the line of presidential succession, admitted in a statement on Saturday he “could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I commit to doing better.”

 

But why was Austin, 70, hospitalized? What complications does he face? Here’s what you need to know.

 

When was Austin hospitalized?

 

The Pentagon late Friday announced that Austin had been in the hospital since Jan. 1 related to his elective medical procedure.

 

But the Defense Department didn't alert the White House until Thursday about Austin's condition, three days after he had been admitted to the hospital, according to a senior Defense official who was not authorized to comment publicly on the matter.

 

He remained in the hospital as of Monday morning.

 

Neither Austin nor other Defense officials have explained what his medical procedure was. The Pentagon on Sunday did confirm that Austin had a medical procedure on Dec. 22 and went home one day later.

 

He was admitted to to intensive care Jan. 1, after he started feeling severe pain. But officials on Sunday argued that he was placed there "due to his medical needs, but then remained in that location in part due to hospital space considerations and privacy.”

Why is Austin facing outrage?

 

The failure to disclose that Austin had been hospitalized for days was a breach of the norm in which health issues of senior government officials are released with alacrity.

 

For example, Austin in August 2022 announced that he had COVID-19 within hours of taking a test, detailing his symptoms in a statement and explaining his plan to "retain all authorities." At the time, he also included his last in-person contact with the president.

 

A group of Republican lawmakers quickly hit out at Austin and other defense officials over their handling of the situation. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., in a statement on Saturday alleged that the Department of Defense "deliberately withheld the Secretary of Defense’s medical condition for days. That is unacceptable.”

 

But GOP officials weren’t the only ones raising concerns.

 

“Heads have to roll,” said Brett Bruen, a former diplomat and expert in crisis communications who worked in the White House under then-President Barack Obama. “This is not a minor miscommunication. It’s about the confidence that our national security structure has in its leadership and that the leadership is acting in a transparent way.”

 

Did Austin pass on his authority during his hospitalization?

 

Yes, on Jan. 2, the day after Austin was admitted to the hospital, he transferred authorities that required “constant secure communications capabilities” to Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks,

 

Hicks, who was on vacation in Puerto Rico, “keeps a complete suite of communications and capable staff with her at all times, regardless of geographic location,” Ryder said, and she took up Austin's duties from the U.S. territory.

 

But in a move that has prompted additional criticism, Hicks wasn’t aware that Austin had been hospitalized until Jan. 4, according a senior defense official who was not authorized to speak publicly.

 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2024/01/08/defense-secretary-lloyd-austin-hospital-elective-surgery/72148117007/

Anonymous ID: 572370 Jan. 8, 2024, 3:37 p.m. No.20208970   🗄️.is 🔗kun

>>20208935

>Operation Sandman

>now activated 1-18-2023

did the Sandman Hotel explosion on 1-8 start a 10-day countdown to Operation Blackjack?

nuclear destruction

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/4220575/Blackjack.html