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The Senate approved the appointment of Lloyd Austin, the first black defense minister
Austin's appointment was earlier approved by Congress, as his cooling-off period from military service has not ended.
The Senate finally approved the appointment by an absolute majority of 93 votes, and he will be the first black person to serve in office.
He promised to address the white supremacy phenomenon: "We must first fight enemies from home"
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Lloyd Austin
Joe Biden
United States
US Department of Defense
IP
Saturday, 23 January 2021, 04:00 Updated: 15:33
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In the video: Biden's inauguration as the 46th President of the United States (Photo: Reuters)
The appointment of Lloyd Austin, the former commander-in-chief of the U.S. military, was approved last night (Friday) in the U.S. Senate, and he became the first black man to serve in office.
Austin is a graduate of the West Point Military Academy who rose to the elite ranks of the military and went through racial barriers in a 41-year career.
The vote, which won 92 votes in favor against two opponents, gave new president Joe Biden his second cabinet member, after Avril Haynes' appointment was approved on Wednesday and she will be the first woman to serve as head of national intelligence.
More appointments to Biden's National Security Team are expected in the coming days.
The president expects Austin to restore stability to the Pentagon, after two defense ministers were appointed as permanent tenants through the Senate during the Trump administration, and four more temporarily.
Austin himself tweeted that he is proud to be the first black defense minister and that it is time to "start working".
He then arrived at the Pentagon, where he was greeted by interim Defense Secretary David Norquist, who held the post from Wednesday for two days, as well as General Mark Millie, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
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"It's time to start working."
Austin (Photo: AP)
In the first hours of his tenure after the inauguration, Austin received an intelligence briefing, and discussed with military officials the corona crisis.
He then spoke on the phone with NATO Secretary-General Jannes Stoltenberg, and received briefings on China and the Middle East.
Some of the global challenges that Washington has to deal with are not foreign to Austin, including one of the most troubling of them - its stay in Afghanistan.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan announced in an interview with his Afghan counterpart that the United States would re-examine the peace agreements signed with the Taliban.
Under the agreement, signed in February 2020 by the Trump administration, U.S. military troops are expected to leave Afghanistan by the end of May.
However, in view of the recent rounds of violence between the Taliban and the country's ruling forces, Sullivan announced that the organization's compliance with its commitments to cease terrorism would be examined.
A few days before the end of his term, Trump ordered a cut in military force on Afghan soil, where the United States has been since 2001, and now has 2,500 American troops.
He presented Baiden with a plan that he claimed would give the Americans an advantage over the Taliban, amid peace talks.
The peace agreements will be re-examined.
Taliban fighters (Photo: AP, Ishtiaq Mahsud)
Approval of Austin's appointment to the post did not come easily.
He retired from the military in 2016, and the law allows for the appointment of a defense minister only after a cooling-off period of seven years.
On Thursday, Congress approved the appointment, paving the way for final approval that arrived in the Senate yesterday.
Austin, the son of a father who worked in the mail and the mother of a housewife from Thomasville, Georgia, is a large man with a thunderous voice, and a tendency to shy away from advertising.
He promised to express his views in Congress and to the president, saying that although he did not seek the job, he was willing to take the lead in the Pentagon, knowing that as a politically elected cabinet member he would have to fill the position with a different approach from a military man
. Biden worked closely with Austin from 2010-2011, when it commanded US forces in Iraq.
The Obama administration expelled troops from Iraq at the time, but was forced to return there three years later, in 2014, when the Islamic State (ISIS) began a large-scale campaign to occupy large areas of the country. ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
In December, when Biden announced his intention to appoint Austin as Secretary of Defense, he noted that he saw him as "the person we need at this time," and said he trusted Austin to know how to achieve effective civilian control of the military.
Some critics who opposed the appointment argued that the fact that the cooling-off period was significantly shortened would result in a military impact on national security matters.
Only twice in the history of the United States has the cooling-off period been shortened: in 1950, when George C. Marshall was appointed to the post during the Korean War, and in 2017, the Trump administration's first defense minister, Jim Matisse, was appointed.
"Everything is being done to vaccinate the population from the virus"
Austin has promised to surround himself with a skilled team, noting that he is a partner in President Biden's efforts to curb the corona virus. "I will soon examine the ministry's activity in the fight against the virus, and make sure we do everything, and even more, to vaccinate the civilian and military population."
He pledged to address the phenomenon of "white supremacy" and extremist elements within the military. "The role of the Department of Defense is to keep America safe from our enemies from the outside," Austin said, "but we can not do that as long as there are enemies within us." He announced that he would make it clear to the commanders that he would not accept any extreme or racist behavior from soldiers.
Austin also provided a glimpse into his policy toward China, saying he accepts Congress's position that China poses a "challenge," and one of the major issues for U.S. national security.
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