SecDef’s absence demands investigation
The demand to ‘move on’ means we shouldn’t
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin had an extended health absence and his boss, President Joe Biden, was in the dark. AP photo/J. Scott Applewhite/ via Politico
When political elites want a story buried, it gets released late Friday afternoon to sometime over that weekend.
The story will disappear.
That occurred on Saturday, Jan. 6, when it was revealed Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin went to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, MD after complications following a procedure for prostate cancer treatment in December.
The problem: His boss, President Joe Biden, was thoroughly in the dark about it.
The United States has active confrontation in the Middle East. The Iranian-backed Houthis are using drones and missiles to wreak havoc on international cargo shipping in the Middle East–so much so that some are traveling around Africa and increasing the cost of shipping. The U.S. is now engaged in attacks on the Houthis in Yemen, and the Houthis attacking us.
The Secretary of Defense was involved in a personal health emergency and most people around him, and those most needing to know, were in the dark.
It doesn’t add up.
The New York Times swooped in one week later focusing on three things: Austin is a private man; criticism of this event is systemic racism; and all this story did is make Republicans pounce on an opportunity.
The NYT’s Helene Cooper wrote:
‘This whole thing of being a private person — you’re not around him very long before you find that out,’ said Representative James E. Clyburn, the South Carolina Democrat who helped Mr. Biden vet Mr. Austin.
But the history of Black men who fought in wars overseas only to come home to discrimination, Mr. Clyburn said, taught many Black military men to believe they could succeed only if they showed less of themselves.
Mr. Austin has spoken of getting a white officer to give his briefings back when he was the commander of the storied 82nd Airborne Division because he figured a white officer was more likely to be listened to.
Cooper also wrote:
He rarely bothers to defend himself to political critics. He left it to General (Mark) Milley to respond to a Republican congressman criticizing the Defense Department for becoming, in his view, too ‘woke.’
Adm. Mike Mullen was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. DoD photo/Petty Officer 1st Class Chad McNeeley/ via military.com
And finally this:
‘We have now politicized a deeply personal and private issue in a deeply personal and private man,’ Adm. Mike Mullen, who was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, said in an interview. ‘We should move on.’
That Mullen quote should compel Americans and any curious journalists–although curious journalists are an extinct creature–should ask why he wants people to move on. Is there a bigger–and so far untold story–that demands being pursued? Is Austin’s health just part of the story, but not the whole story?
Mullen and the NYT saying there’s nothing to see is all the more reason why no one should move on.
And strangely, The Daily Beast, a leftist news website, obtained the 911 call made on behalf of Austin on New Year’s Day,
It started with a request for the ambulance to be “subtle” in Austin’s neighborhood.
The Daily Beast reported:
‘Can I ask—can the ambulance not show up with lights and sirens? Uhm, we’re trying to remain a little subtle,’ the aide said, according to the recording, which The Daily Beast obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in the state of Virginia.
While Austin’s closest aides knew he had been treated for prostate cancer in December, President Biden and senior administration officials were not in the loop.
The website reported on Jan. 16 that details reveal Austin was alert, but they were concerned about potential complications from the December prostate cancer surgery. The DB also reported:
‘The Secretary continues to recover well and, on the advice of doctors, will recuperate and perform his duties remotely for a period of time before returning full-time to the Pentagon,’ the statement said. ‘He has full access to required secure communications capabilities.’
Biden said to the NYT that it was a lapse in judgment for Austin to not make the President aware.
It has compelled the Administration to examine the protocols for similar events.
White House chief of staff Jeff Zients has since launched a review of Cabinet procedures for notification when officials cannot perform their duties due to loss of communications or incapacitation. White House National Security Council coordinator John Kirby has said the way the Secretary of Defense handled this situation was not ideal.
The Pentagon’s inspector general has started an investigation on the incident.
Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump has called for Austin to be fired. Additionally, two Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives want Austin to resign or to be fired.
No one in the legacy media has offered informed speculation about what happened.
However, the fact so many current and former military officials want Americans to “move on” makes the official Austin story more implausible.
It demands deep skepticism and a deep investigation.
