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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin mentioned Thursday that he apologized directly to President Biden for not giving advance discover about his hospitalization for prostate most cancers remedy.
“I want to be crystal clear. We did not handle this right and I did not handle this right,” Austin mentioned at a Pentagon press briefing on Thursday. “I should have told the president about my cancer diagnosis. I should have also told my team and the American public, and I take full responsibility. I apologize to my teammates and to the American people.”
“I want to make it very clear that there were no gaps in authorities and no risk to the department’s command and control,” he insisted, addressing concern about who was in management on the Department of Defense throughout a time of heightened rigidity within the Middle East. Austin returned to the Pentagon for the primary time since his hospitalization on Monday – only a day after a drone strike by Iran-backed militants killed three U.S. service members and injured no less than 40 others in Jordan at a put up close to the Syrian border.
“At every moment, either I or the deputy secretary was in full charge,” Austin mentioned. “And we’ve already put in place some new procedures to make sure that any lapses in notification don’t happen in the future if the deputy secretary needs to temporarily assume the duties of my office. She and several White House officers will be immediately notified, including the White House Situation Room, and so will key officials across the department. And the reason for that assumption of duties will be included in writing.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin listens throughout a gathering with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on the Pentagon, Monday, Jan. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Austin additionally mentioned he apologized to Biden after the matter.
“As a rule, I don’t talk about conversations with my boss, but I can tell you I have apologized directly to President Biden and I’ve told him that I’m deeply sorry for not letting him know immediately that I received a heavy diagnosis and was getting treatment,” he mentioned. “And he has responded with a grace and warm heart that anyone who knows President Biden would expect. And I’m grateful for his full confidence in me.”
Austin rejected the notion that he would resign over the controversy.
Fox News’ nationwide safety correspondent Jennifer Griffin famous that in the course of the time that Austin was within the intensive care unit, there was a drone strike carried out in opposition to an Iraqi chief of a militia.
“Do you regret that the authorities were not clear at that point? And what can you explain about what was going through your mind at that time?” Griffin requested in the course of the press convention. “And then separately, there’s been a lot of telegraphing about targeting and responding to the drone strike, so much so that the Iranian proxy leaders have left the country. Some are back in Tehran. Has there been too much telegraphing or is the point not to kill any Iranian commanders?”
Austin mentioned the strike “was planned and I had made recommendations to the president on actions that we should carry out.”
Pentagon officers ultimately confirmed that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was hospitalized for almost two weeks after he was admitted due to issues from surgical procedure for prostate most cancers. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“President made a decision. And based upon that decision, authorities were pushed down to the Central Command commander. And as you know, a strike like that, you can’t pick the precise time when that strike is going to take place. You want to minimize collateral damage. You want to make sure that you have everything right. And so the subordinate commander had the controls on that particular strike. So I was very much involved in the planning and the recommendation for that. And we knew that that would take place within a matter of days.”
“In terms of telegraphing about strikes and whether or not people leave or what they left,” Austin mentioned he would not speculate however mentioned the U.S. vows a “multi-tiered response.”
Austin denied he created what one other reporter referred to as a “culture of secrecy” on the division.
The secretary defined that he had a “minimally invasive procedure” on Dec. 22, 2023, to deal with his lately recognized prostate most cancers.
Unexpectedly, he mentioned he felt extreme ache in his leg, stomach and hip on Jan. 1, and that night an ambulance took him to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, the place medical doctors discovered he wanted remedy for a number of points, together with a bladder an infection and stomach issues. On Jan. 2, Austin recalled how he was additionally experiencing a fever, chills and shallow respiration, so medical employees transferred him to the crucial care unit for a number of days for nearer monitoring and higher “team care by my doctors.”
Sgt. William Rivers, Spc. Breonna Moffett and Spc. Kennedy Sanders have been killed in Jordan by the Syrian border in a drone strike by Iran-backed militants. (Fox News )
“The deputy secretary assumed the functions and duties of my office, which happens when necessary,” he mentioned. “Her senior staff, my senior staff and the Joint Staff were notified of this through our regular email notification procedures, and I never directed anyone to keep my January hospitalization from the White House.”
Austin mentioned he resumed his features and duties as secretary from the hospital on Jan. 5.
“I was functioning well mentally, but not so well physically. And so I stayed at Walter Reed for additional time for additional treatment, including physical therapy, for some lingering issues with my leg,” he mentioned. “Now, I’m offering all this as an explanation and not an excuse. I am very proud of what we’ve achieved at the department over the past three years, but we fell short on this one.” The Pentagon mentioned Austin was launched from Walter Reed on Jan. 15.
Austin on Thursday additionally mentioned he missed a possibility to discuss an vital well being challenge, one which particularly impacts the Black group.
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“I was diagnosed with a highly treatable form of cancer, a pretty common one. One in eight American men will get prostate cancer. One in six Black men will get it,” he mentioned. “And so I’m here with a clear message to other men, especially older men. Get screened, get your regular check-ups. Prostate cancer has a glass jar. If your doctor can spot it, they can treat it and beat it. The side effects that I experienced are highly, highly unusual. So you can count on me to set a better example on this issue today and for the rest of my life.”
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