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Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
© Liu Jie/Imago
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has kept his cancer secret for a long time.
This was a mistake, he now says.
Washington, D.C.
- U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday his recent cancer diagnosis was a "punch in the gut" that devastated him.
He provided new details about his ensuing medical crisis and assured that he had not instructed his staff to keep the situation secret from the White House.
Austin, speaking to the media for the first time in about six weeks, said he was taken by ambulance to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Jan. 1 with fever, chills, leg pain and shallow breathing.
Ten days after he privately underwent surgery there to treat prostate cancer.
Neither President Biden nor most Pentagon employees were notified for days, for which Austin immediately apologized.
He remained in the hospital for two weeks.
Lloyd Austin: “I didn’t do it right”
“I want to be clear: we didn’t do this right.
I didn’t do it right,” Austin said.
“I should have informed the president about my cancer diagnosis.
I should have told my team and the American public too, and I take full responsibility.
I apologize to my teammates and the American people.”
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Austin's public contrition seemed to demonstrate his desire to move on after a month of controversy.
The setback was a rare instance during Biden's term as president in which a Cabinet official disagreed with the White House.
Austin said his first instinct was to keep the diagnosis secret and that he learned that as a member of the president's Cabinet in such a high-ranking position, he had a duty to be transparent.
The defense secretary said he did not believe he created an environment in which his staff decided it was best to keep such important information secret from the White House.
Austin wasn't thinking about retiring
“I don’t think I created a culture of secrecy,” Austin said, later adding that he had not considered resigning, as some Republicans have called for.
His chief of staff, Kelly Magsamen, who has come under fire for her role in hiding Austin's illness at the Pentagon and did not attend the briefing, also did not offer to resign, he said.
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Austin, 70, was noticeably thinner than before the health crisis that landed him in an intensive care unit for days.
He walked gingerly to and from the podium in the Pentagon briefing room and admitted he used a golf cart to get around the building.
The press conference lasted almost 40 minutes.
“I'm recovering well,” Austin said, “but as you can see, I'm still on the mend.”
His appearance before reporters came three days after his return to the Pentagon on Jan. 29 and nearly a week after three U.S. soldiers were killed in a drone strike in northeastern Jordan.
Biden has vowed to retaliate for the violence that wounded dozens of other soldiers, and Austin reiterated Thursday that a response was forthcoming.
The USA does not want to tolerate attacks on US soldiers
“The president will not tolerate attacks on American troops — and neither will I,” he said in his prepared remarks.
U.S. officials have blamed an umbrella organization of Iranian-backed militias, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, for Sunday's deadly attack in Jordan.
It is one of more than 165 attacks on U.S. forces in the region since October, when Israel's war in the Gaza Strip sparked further violence.
The militias, backed by Iranian weapons and training, have cited the conflict - and unwavering U.S. support for Israel - as justification for their attacks, which have injured dozens of soldiers elsewhere.
The fact that no military action has been taken since the attack has led critics to claim that the Biden administration is telegraphing its plan and giving both Iran and the proxy groups responsible too much time to prepare.
Austin, who joined other senior U.S. officials, said they expected a "multifaceted response" but also noted that the administration remained focused on preventing a major regional war.
Austin called the attack in Jordan "outrageous" because it targeted sleeping quarters at the base, known as Tower 22.
At this point, Austin said, it is “time” to strip these militias of military capabilities to prevent future attacks.
They have a lot of skills,” Austin said.
“I have a lot more.”
To the authors
Missy Ryan
writes about diplomacy, national security and the State Department for The Washington Post.
She joined the Post in 2014 to write about the Pentagon and military issues.
She has reported from Iraq, Egypt, Libya, Lebanon, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Mexico, Peru, Argentina and Chile.
Dan Lamothe
has worked for The Washington Post since 2014, covering the U.S. military.
He has been writing about the armed forces for more than 15 years, has traveled extensively, gotten to know five branches of the armed forces and reported on combat operations in Afghanistan.
We are currently testing machine translations. This article was automatically translated from English into German.
This article was first published in English on February 1, 2024 at the “Washingtonpost.com” - as part of a cooperation, it is now available in translation and a shortened version to readers of the IPPEN.MEDIA portals.