Baghdad-INA
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was hospitalized on Monday due to health complications, according to the Pentagon, at a time when the United States faces a growing crisis in the Middle East.
Austin was transferred to Walter Reed Military Hospital near Washington “due to complications that occurred as a result of a non-emergency medical procedure,” Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder said in a statement, without specifying the nature of the complications or the length of his stay in the hospital.
The spokesman added, “He is recovering well and is expected to fully resume his duties.”
“At every moment, the Deputy Secretary of Defense was prepared to act and use the minister’s powers when necessary,” Ryder continued.
Another Pentagon spokesman later said that Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks “is automatically authorized to assume the secretary’s duties if he is incapacitated,” noting that she had already made “routine decisions on behalf of (Austin) this week.”
Austin’s admission to the hospital comes in a context of escalating tension facing the United States in the Middle East, linked to the conflict between the Zionists and the Hamas movement.
2024-01-08 11:52:46