WASHINGTON — The Pentagon announced this Thursday an internal investigation into the hospitalization of the Secretary of Defense of the United States, Lloyd Austin, for prostate cancer detected in early December due to the lack of communication between offices and departments regarding his state of health.
“The objective of this review is to examine the functions, processes, procedures, responsibilities and actions related to the hospitalization of the Secretary of Defense in December 2023,” reads a letter signed the day before by the inspector general of the Department, Robert Stork.
The investigation will be carried out from the same Ministry of Defense and will aim to evaluate whether both the Department’s policies and procedures “are sufficient to guarantee timely and appropriate notifications” due to “health reasons or other reasons for the unavailability of senior personnel.” managers”.
In this way, Storch has authorized access to any type of material that it considers necessary to carry out the investigation. “We will be able to identify additional offices and staff that may have relevant information,” she added.
Austin has been hospitalized since last Monday, January 1, at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda (Maryland), after complicating a surgery he underwent, a fact that would not have greater relevance if it were not for the fact that neither the White House nor Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, nor Austin’s own replacement, Kathleen Hicks, were aware of his entry.
The 70-year-old Secretary of Defense is immediately behind President Joe Biden in the US military’s chain of command and plays a central role in the numerous theaters in which the United States is involved militarily around the world, including conflict between Israel and Hamas, the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea or the war in Ukraine.
Source: With information from Europa Press
