A review was ordered by the White House of the hospitalization of Austin
White House Briefing on the “Decision of Lloyd Austin” about the Pentagon Proton Cancer Treatment During the December January 1, 2012 Aperiodic Event
The White House must be kept informed of potential cases where they need to delegate authority if Cabinet members do not submit their current protocols in writing by Friday.
While the review is underway, Ms. Magsamen directed that if the secretary’s power is delegated again, his office should notify the chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the combatant commanders, service secretaries and chiefs of staff, the Pentagon general counsel, senior aides to the secretary and his deputy and the White House Situation Room.
The Defense Department has ordered its own 30-day review of what happened and how its procedures should be changed if necessary. In the Monday memo, Mr. Austin’s chief of staff ordered the administration director to identify the facts and circumstances during the period and evaluate the processes and procedures through which they were implemented.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was treated for prostate cancer, which was identified last month, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center said in a statement, and complications from that procedure led to his hospitalization on New Year’s Day. The White House said that President Biden was told about Austin’s cancer on Tuesday.
Austin was under general anesthesia during this procedure, which the White House was not aware of at the time. He was discharged from the hospital the next day and returned home the following day, where he was given an excellent prognosis due to his early detection of cancer.
But on Jan. 1, Austin was admitted to Walter Reed with complications from the Dec. 22 procedure, including nausea with severe abdominal, hip and leg pain. A urinary tract infection was revealed after an initial evaluation.
The secrecy surrounding Austin’s hospitalization prompted the White House to take a hard look at rules for Cabinet members, according to a memo obtained by NPR.
At the White House briefing, Kirby said Biden retains confidence in Austin, but acknowledged: “It is not optimal for a situation like this to go as long as it did without the commander in chief knowing about it, or the national security adviser knowing about it, or frankly other leaders at the department of defense. That’s not the way this is supposed to happen.”
Secretary Austin was hospitalized for complications following treatment for prostate cancer, according to a statement in a reappraisal by the Walter Reed Medical Center
The statement said changes in his laboratory evaluation identified the cancer which needed treatment. “On December 22, 2023, after consultation with his medical team, he was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and underwent a minimally invasive surgical procedure called a prostatectomy to treat and cure prostate cancer.”
A prostatectomy is the surgical removal of the prostate gland. It is sometimes done in a minimally invasive way, using, for instance, a robot to help the surgeon perform the operation more precisely. The Pentagon continues to call Austin’s procedure “elective” despite the Walter Reed statement that Austin required treatment.
“This resulted in the back up of his intestinal contents which was treated by placing a tube through his nose to drain his stomach. The abdominal fluid collections were drained by non-surgical drain placement,” the statement said. “He has progressed steadily throughout his stay. His problem has been solved. He is making progress and we are looking at a full recovery although it can be a slow process. Secretary Austin did not have general anesthesia or lose consciousness during this stay.
The Pentagon is not the anti-American, but the defense secretary of the United States is the police: When does the Pentagon respond to a crisis in the Middle East?
“I’m glad he’s getting it addressed. I just wish that he had been more forthcoming about it,” he said. “I think in a position like his transparency is essential. We did not see that. And that raises a lot of concerns and questions in his position — with all the national security interests of the country at risk.”
But there’s a deeper cause: the fading away of Pax Americana — the idea that the United States has a duty, rooted in values and interests, to police the global commons, defend embattled allies, deter anti-American dictatorships and punish major violations of international order, like Iraq’s seizure of Kuwait or Russia’s invasions of Ukraine. The thought that Washington should be the world’s cop is now considered, on a bipartisan basis, to be an idea whose time has passed. The Trumpian right wants an America that is out of itself; the progressive left wants to delegate the job to organizations like the United Nations.
An unpoliced world and the world that doesn’t police itself are pandemonium. I suspect we are much closer to that world — months, possibly — than most Americans appreciate. What happens if a rocket hits an Israeli school or if Ukraine runs out of shells?
The job of the defense secretary is to be on top of things. Imagine if the Houthis had put a hole in an American ship, requiring an immediate response. Hours could have been lost while combatant commanders tried to get direction from the Pentagon.
Austin neglected to inform his staff or the White House. The administration is taking the incident seriously because of the nonchalance. Austin has described it as a matter of poor communication and promised to do better. The president says he has no plans to let go of his secretary. Nobody would care if this were the defense minister of New Zealand. (Sorry, New Zealand.) Abandoning Pax Americana is a mistake because we don’t have the option of being a larger version of New Zealand. A world we seek to turn our back on is likelier to stab us in the back than it is to turn its back on us. That is the reason for preserving, and police, a global order.
