US defence chief promises transparency amid secrecy around hospital stay
Al Jazeera
Lloyd Austin went to hospital for elective surgery on January 1 but the White House was not notified.
United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has said he takes “full responsibility” for the secrecy after it emerged that he had been in hospital since last Monday and that many top White House officials including President Joe Biden were unaware.
Austin, who is 70, was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on January 1 for what the Pentagon announced on Friday were “complications following a recent elective medical procedure”.
The secrecy surrounding Austin’s hospital admission is a breach of standard protocol and comes amid the Israel-Gaza war and heightened tension in the Middle East.
Austin sits just below Biden at the top of the chain of command of the US military and is required to be available at a moment’s notice to respond to any manner of national security crisis.
“I recognise I could have done a better job ensuring the public was appropriately informed. I commit to doing better,” Austin said in a statement on Saturday evening.
