WASHINGTON: US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was hospitalized earlier this week due to complications from a medical procedure, the Pentagon said Friday, at a time when Washington is facing a growing crisis in the Middle East.
Austin was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on the evening of January 1 “for complications following a recent elective medical procedure,” Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Pat Ryder said in a statement, without providing details on the complications or the duration of the hospital stay.
“He is recovering well and is expecting to resume his full duties today,” Ryder said.
The Defense Department had not previously disclosed that Austin was hospitalized, with Friday’s announcement prompting criticism from the Pentagon Press Association.
In a letter to the Pentagon press secretary expressing “significant concerns,” the press association said withholding the announcement for days until “late on a Friday evening is an outrage.”
“The public has a right to know when US Cabinet members are hospitalized, under anesthesia or when duties are delegated as a result of any medical procedure,” said the letter from the association, made up of journalists that cover the Pentagon.
The secretary’s hospitalization comes with tensions soaring in the Middle East as a result of the Israel-Hamas war, with Iran-backed forces in Yemen striking shipping lanes while others in Iraq and Syria are attacking US troops with rockets and drones.
On Thursday, the United States carried out a strike that killed an Iran-backed commander in Baghdad whom the military accused of involvement in attacks on American forces, infuriating the Iraqi government.
“At all times, the deputy secretary of defense (Kathleen Hicks) was prepared to act for and exercise the powers of the secretary, if required,” Ryder said.
A Defense Department spokesperson later told AFP that the deputy secretary “is automatically authorized to perform the duties of the secretary if he is unable to perform them,” and that “she did make some routine decisions on his behalf this week.”
Austin was aware of the Baghdad strike, the spokesperson said, adding that the secretary and US President Joe Biden had previously authorized the action.
US defense chief hospitalized due to medical complications
https://arab.news/5wp6d
US defense chief hospitalized due to medical complications
- Austin was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on the evening of January 1
- Defense Department had not previously disclosed Austin’s hospitalization, with Friday’s announcement prompting criticism from Pentagon Press Association.
Blair dropped from Gaza ‘peace board’ after Arab objections
- Former UK PM was viewed with hostility over role in Iraq War
- He reportedly met Netanyahu late last month to discuss plans
LONDON: Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has been withdrawn from the US-led Gaza “peace council” following objections by Arab and Muslim countries, The Guardian reported.
US President Donald Trump has said he would chair the council. Blair was long floated for a prominent role in the administration, but has now been quietly dropped, according to the Financial Times.
Blair had been lobbying for a position in the postwar council and oversaw a plan for Gaza from his Tony Blair Institute for Global Change that involved Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.
Supporters of the former British leader cited his role in the Good Friday Agreement, which ended decades of conflict and violence in Northern Ireland.
His detractors, however, highlighted his former position as representative of the Middle East Quartet, made up of the UN, EU, Russia and US, which aimed to bring about peace in the Middle East.
Furthermore, Blair’s involvement in the Iraq War is viewed with hostility across the Arab world.
After Trump revealed his 20-point plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in September, Blair was the only figure publicly named as taking a potential role in the postwar peace council.
The US president supported his appointment and labeled him a “very good man.”
A source told the Financial Times that Blair’s involvement was backed by the US and Israel.
“The Americans like him and the Israelis like him,” the person said.
The US plan for Gaza was criticized in some quarters for proposing a separate Gaza framework that did not include the West Bank, stoking fears that the occupied Palestinian territories would become separate polities indefinitely.
Trump said in October: “I’ve always liked Tony, but I want to find out that he’s an acceptable choice to everybody.”
Blair is reported to have held an unpublicized meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late last month to discuss plans.
His office declined to comment to The Guardian, but an ally said the former prime minister would not be sitting on Gaza’s “board of peace.”
