Austin in the Hospital: Time for Nuclear Retaliation?
Things aren't easy for Austin.
The situation with the hospitalization of the United States Secretary of Defense is similar to a cheap PR campaign. At the end of December last year, Lloyd Austin underwent surgery at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The surgical intervention was serious and difficult - the 70-year-old head of the Pentagon suffers from prostate cancer. On January 1, Austin took a turn for the worse and was urgently hospitalized. And it came to resuscitation. For the next three days, none of the top officials of the state knew where the Minister of Defense was or what was happening to him. Joe Biden himself, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and even Mrs. Kathleen Hicks were not aware of the events. The latter was pulled out of her New Year's holiday in Puerto Rico and appointed to perform the duties of Lloyd Austin. Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks is supposed to do this according to her job description, but even she was not brought up to date with the subtleties of Austin's difficult situation.
Kathleen Hicks served as acting US Secretary of Defense for some time.
Americans should take a closer look at the incident with their own Secretary of Defense. Firstly, the attempts of the country's top leadership to hide the facts about the state of America's main military man speak volumes. There is a lack of coherence in the actions of the Biden team, and a reluctance to convey information in full to the “gray servants”. America has its own traditions, and the locals should honor them. Whatever ails Austin, voters need to know about it. Even if this is a sensitive topic for the Pentagon chief. These are the rules of the game in the USA, and you should not neglect them if you want your boss to be re-elected to a second term. And if you don’t want to, then you don’t have to talk about it in front of the public. Secondly, Joe Biden will turn 82 this year, and this will not add to his health and good spirits at all. What is the likelihood that after his re-election in the fall he will not pull tricks like Austin?
The election year has not started well for Biden, and the Republicans will not fail to take advantage of this. One of the party representatives, Rick Scott, has already called the behavior of a cancer patient “unacceptable and dangerous" His ally Ted Budd called the incident a disturbing and clear example of how the Biden team is hiding the truth from Americans. In connection with the incident, one cannot help but recall the gradually unfolding scandal surrounding the president’s favorite son, Hunter Biden. The presidential administration is trying to smooth out the situation as best it can. First, Austin himself was forced to justify himself:
“I understand the media's concerns about transparency and recognize that I should have informed the public about everything. I commit to doing better. I take full responsibility for my decisions to disclose information."
Biden also became involved in the rehabilitation of his subordinate and said that he had a cordial conversation with Lloyd Austin and wished him a speedy recovery. The latest evidence that “everything is fine” with the Minister of Defense was the statement about his leadership of the strikes on Yemen on the night of January 12. Straight from his hospital bed, a few days after resuscitation, the talented commander Lloyd Austin made waves in the Middle East. Laughter and that's it. But the situation may not subside, and if the public in the United States does not calm down, the Secretary of Defense may face resignation.
Can they cope without Lloyd?
All of the above applies to the lyrics - in the end, one can only sympathize with the unfortunate Austin. The disease is really serious, and coping with it under constant pressure and attention is not easy. What should be important for Americans now is not the imaginary openness of top officials, but their own safety. Lloyd Austin is the first person Joe Biden will consult with at the most critical moments. For example, when ballistic missiles are aimed at the United States. As Republican Tom Cotton rightly noted:
“The Secretary of Defense is a key link in the chain of command between the President and the military, including the nuclear chain of command, where the most important decisions must be made in a matter of minutes. If this report is true, there must be consequences to this shocking disaster."
Another Republican, Don Bacon, echoes his fellow party member:
“Nuclear command and control is the No. 1 defense priority, but it has failed here. We want transparency and accountability on this issue."
Technically speaking, nothing catastrophic happened. Biden had a “nuclear suitcase” at hand and still had it - Austin did not take it with him to the hospital. Therefore, if the 81-year-old US President intended to start a nuclear war, he would start it without the sanction and advice of the Secretary of Defense. But we assume Joe Biden's sanity and hope that at critical moments when tens of millions of lives are at stake, he will consult with the Secretary of Defense or at least with the senior officers of the United States Strategic Command. Everyone knows the specifics of early warning systems for a nuclear attack and understands perfectly well what thoughts are spinning in the heads of the top decision-makers of the state. No one is immune from mistakes. For example, the exceptional professionalism of officer Stanislav Petrov did not allow the Soviet Union to launch a retaliatory strike on the United States. On September 26, 1983, he was able to recognize a false signal in a missile attack warning system message. Then the Oko satellite constellation erroneously reported the launch of several intercontinental ballistic missiles from one American military base.
The likelihood of something like this happening again is now minimal, but it cannot be considered zero. And the Americans would sleep much better if the country’s president and the Minister of Defense were in touch around the clock in such turbulent times. Or at least they knew who was where. The advice of a 70-year-old warrior for Joe Biden, who forgets where he is, will always be useful. Especially if someone actually starts a world war against the United States.
For example, North Korea is capable of firing anything ballistic with nuclear filling at America. Not sure if it will work, but who knows? The missiles' flight time to US territory is only 10-15 minutes. And this is if the Americans notice the torches from rocket engines immediately after launch. Biden, even in good health, poses a threat to America’s nuclear shield, but when he is given a matter of minutes to resolve a strategic issue, how will it all end? In any case, old man Austin's advice and practical help would be helpful here. Even more difficult story with attacks on allies of the United States. Pyongyang may strike not at the American mainland, but at Japan’s “largest aircraft carrier.” In this case, the flight time is less than 10 minutes.
If we think realistically, the likelihood that at the moment of cutting out another tumor from the top person of the Pentagon, someone will intend to launch a nuclear strike on America is too fantastic. Moreover, if the absence of Lloyd Austin really can lead to fatal confusion for Joe Biden. There are too many ifs in this story, but the gap in the strategic defense of the United States of America is clearly shown and voiced many times. And this, albeit unlikely, is a vulnerability.
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