Excellent article John. When I first heard this I wondered if it was stupidity or incompetence or rogue. The more we learn, it seems the rogue part makes more sense. How the Hell did we get here?
I think President Biden is well past the early or mild stages of dementia based on what I've seen repeatedly on video clips that most of the major media outlets refuse to broadcast.
Bravo Blue, I am fortunate and glad that you drill down for truth in the roots of our socio-political lives and national personality , rather than in my teeth , all of which are far more sensitive to your probing deep discovery.
Well done John, thank you. The fact that this truth exists, is at the highest level of significance to our country’s national security, and yet has created such little journalistic scrutiny, clearly demonstrates how utterly lost and useless the former checks and balances provided new respected news organizations have become.
Surely you jest, as Chatsworth Osbourne, Jr. was fond of telling Dobie Gillis. Austin was an affirmative action hire from the get-go. Like the lately lamented Mx. Claudine Gay, his primary qualification was the color of his skin. Advancing through the ranks, do you think any of his superiors had the stones to honestly assess his qualities as a soldier or leader of men? What, and risk their own advancement by being accused of... rrrrrrrrrrrrrracism! I congratulate you on your effort, but it will, like every other similar attampt to inject some reality into our discussion of such things, be largely ignored and quickly forgotten amidst the swirling miasma of lies, prevarications and gas lighting that passes for the Biden Administration.
Men that have prostate cancer tend to shield themselves from the diagnosis to others. But what Austin did is inexcusable behavior by not telling staff members that he was going under the knife. Biden probably doesn’t even know who Austin is, so telling him is a lost cause. BUT, someone in Biden’s staff should have been informed and the ball was dropped again. Absolutely nothing will be done and trying to get a congressional committee to look into it is a joke. The whole swamp is like Camp Runamuk.
Thanks, Dan. Take a look at my response to LJinTX. It relates to your first point. You may be (probably are) correct about Congress' lack of action. Maybe the House will do something, but the Senate? Forgettaboutit. But that should not stop prople from speaking up and being heard on the issue. Like requesting an airstrike, silence will be construed as assent. (Some people on this site will understand the metaphor!)
Decades of personal habit and discipline are presumably enough to keep a career officer focused on his mission. This was dereliction of duty, nothing less. Regrettably, UCMJ does not apply to him now and I doubt if he ever feared consequences. Clearly a political general promoted far beyond his competency I am told and approaches Soviet level incompetence.
A series of unacceptable blunders. The reporting thus far has not touched on what is most troublesome about this event. The SECDEF is the chain-of-command link between the President and the 4 star-level Combatant Commanders. His absence could have had serious implications on crisis managment and informing Presidential decision-making.
The chain if command is supposed to flow through the SecDef from the president and Sullivan.
Military strikes occurred while Austin was AWOL and Biden was on vacation and rehearsing for his J6 speech. Who ordered these? Through which chain did these flow?
Had authority for the strike already been delegated to the Pentagon to execute at its discretion, or is Sullivan in direct communication with JCS?
Is Austin simply not in the decision-making and communications loop (even before his hospitalization). Surely not speaking with him for days seems to be SOP for Biden and Sullivan and Blinken. If that is the case, why is Austin SecDef?
Perhaps the most disturbing point in your piece is the apparent lack of regular contact between Biden and Austin. It's not like there is nothing going on in the world involving the military. Even if Biden is just the front man for a shadowy junta, doesn't the junta have someone in charge?
I’m a little confused on what constitutes absence without leave. I am informed that Article 86 of the UCMJ defines absence without leave as any armed forces member who, without authority, fails to attend their designated duty location when required, leaves that place, or remains away from their unit, organization, or duty location at a prescribed time. I do not know if Austin lives on a military base or if he is required to be at any particular place on a given day. I assume that when a senior officer of the military stays home sick that does not constitute the offense of being absent without leave. I guess I don’t see why being hospitalized for a day or two for prostatectomy (been there, done that) is that big a deal as long as his Deputy knew how to contact him, as indicated, and was delegated appropriate duties and authority (admittedly unclear as indicated). What am I missing here?
I guess my question would be, what did the combat command(ers) know and when did they know it? Yes, the optics of this debacle look bad for the current regime (only happens on days ending in "Y"), but what might have happened behind the scenes?
Great write up of the “should haves” and the “have nots.”
It’s a disgrace. It further proves to all our adversaries, all meaning they are mounting up and getting in line, just how incompetent our President is, our Pentagon, and yes, even our Congress!
Our Adversaries are licking their chops!
Is Congress waiting for the President to make the right decision in Austin’s AWOL? It appears so.
Congress must act!
Congress knows this!
If Congress doesn’t act decisively, swiftly (too late), and in line with long standing military readiness policies that have made us a worthy nation in the eyes of all nations, then we surely are in a state of decline.
I just kept seeing the phrase … and so and so didn’t know Austin had cancer. Prostate cancer doesn’t mean eminent death. I’m sure many doctors will disagree with me, but it’s kinda equivalent to elective surgery to remove a little toe because of diabetes. Would you still be saying … Austin didn’t tell anybody he had diabetes! Probably not. The fact that something didn’t go right with the surgery and caused him to have to go to ICU is a problem and yes the fact that nobody was informed of his elective surgery and even covered up for him is also a problem.
LJ, thanks for taking the time to comment. Respectfully I disagree with you. If Austin or a senior general had diabetes, they should tell their boss. Why? Because diabetes alone is enough to make someone ineligible to enlist in the Army. That is because a diabetic experiencing a "sugar low" can unexpectedly zone out to the point where often a person suffering from that is mistakenly taken to be drunk. They cannot perform under these unexpected circumstances, and it can be life-threatening if not dealt with promptly.
You are correct that prostate cancer doesn't (usually) mean eminent death. Although I am not a doctor, I have had prostate cancer and radiation therapy, so I feel somewhat entitled to discuss it. Several points in response: (1) aside from whether Austin should have informed the President he had prostate cancer, after he was admitted to the hospital ICU, there is no reasonable argument in favor of keeping the C-I-C in the dark.
(2) Although prostate cancer is a long-term condition, it can lead to future health problems that the President needs to know about. Austin was not just an executive VP is a Fortune 50 company or even a lesser Cabinet secretary, where he might have a greater claim for privacy. The rules are different for a SECDEF or general officer. Even if the greatest risk of severe compromise to his ability to function is months or even, say, a year in the future, because of the nature of his position, the President needs to know if there is a risk that he is not a long-term player in the national security arena.
(3) It is not uncommon for prostate cancer patients to need treatments (even after surgery), hormone treatments, and/or chemotherapy. These can cause a diminished ability to function. If this is even a remote possibility, then any President needs to know if his SECDEF or Chairman of the JCS is at risk for this. If he were the Secretary of Transportation, there would be a better argument for non-disclosure, but he is not and, as I said, the rules are different for him.
Thank you for presenting this situation from a military perspective.
Excellent article John. When I first heard this I wondered if it was stupidity or incompetence or rogue. The more we learn, it seems the rogue part makes more sense. How the Hell did we get here?
I think President Biden is well past the early or mild stages of dementia based on what I've seen repeatedly on video clips that most of the major media outlets refuse to broadcast.
Coming from a physician, that is significant.
Bravo Blue, I am fortunate and glad that you drill down for truth in the roots of our socio-political lives and national personality , rather than in my teeth , all of which are far more sensitive to your probing deep discovery.
Well done John, thank you. The fact that this truth exists, is at the highest level of significance to our country’s national security, and yet has created such little journalistic scrutiny, clearly demonstrates how utterly lost and useless the former checks and balances provided new respected news organizations have become.
Surely you jest, as Chatsworth Osbourne, Jr. was fond of telling Dobie Gillis. Austin was an affirmative action hire from the get-go. Like the lately lamented Mx. Claudine Gay, his primary qualification was the color of his skin. Advancing through the ranks, do you think any of his superiors had the stones to honestly assess his qualities as a soldier or leader of men? What, and risk their own advancement by being accused of... rrrrrrrrrrrrrracism! I congratulate you on your effort, but it will, like every other similar attampt to inject some reality into our discussion of such things, be largely ignored and quickly forgotten amidst the swirling miasma of lies, prevarications and gas lighting that passes for the Biden Administration.
Men that have prostate cancer tend to shield themselves from the diagnosis to others. But what Austin did is inexcusable behavior by not telling staff members that he was going under the knife. Biden probably doesn’t even know who Austin is, so telling him is a lost cause. BUT, someone in Biden’s staff should have been informed and the ball was dropped again. Absolutely nothing will be done and trying to get a congressional committee to look into it is a joke. The whole swamp is like Camp Runamuk.
Thanks, Dan. Take a look at my response to LJinTX. It relates to your first point. You may be (probably are) correct about Congress' lack of action. Maybe the House will do something, but the Senate? Forgettaboutit. But that should not stop prople from speaking up and being heard on the issue. Like requesting an airstrike, silence will be construed as assent. (Some people on this site will understand the metaphor!)
Decades of personal habit and discipline are presumably enough to keep a career officer focused on his mission. This was dereliction of duty, nothing less. Regrettably, UCMJ does not apply to him now and I doubt if he ever feared consequences. Clearly a political general promoted far beyond his competency I am told and approaches Soviet level incompetence.
He was a USMA graduate. He knew better.
A series of unacceptable blunders. The reporting thus far has not touched on what is most troublesome about this event. The SECDEF is the chain-of-command link between the President and the 4 star-level Combatant Commanders. His absence could have had serious implications on crisis managment and informing Presidential decision-making.
The chain if command is supposed to flow through the SecDef from the president and Sullivan.
Military strikes occurred while Austin was AWOL and Biden was on vacation and rehearsing for his J6 speech. Who ordered these? Through which chain did these flow?
Had authority for the strike already been delegated to the Pentagon to execute at its discretion, or is Sullivan in direct communication with JCS?
Is Austin simply not in the decision-making and communications loop (even before his hospitalization). Surely not speaking with him for days seems to be SOP for Biden and Sullivan and Blinken. If that is the case, why is Austin SecDef?
Perhaps the most disturbing point in your piece is the apparent lack of regular contact between Biden and Austin. It's not like there is nothing going on in the world involving the military. Even if Biden is just the front man for a shadowy junta, doesn't the junta have someone in charge?
I’m a little confused on what constitutes absence without leave. I am informed that Article 86 of the UCMJ defines absence without leave as any armed forces member who, without authority, fails to attend their designated duty location when required, leaves that place, or remains away from their unit, organization, or duty location at a prescribed time. I do not know if Austin lives on a military base or if he is required to be at any particular place on a given day. I assume that when a senior officer of the military stays home sick that does not constitute the offense of being absent without leave. I guess I don’t see why being hospitalized for a day or two for prostatectomy (been there, done that) is that big a deal as long as his Deputy knew how to contact him, as indicated, and was delegated appropriate duties and authority (admittedly unclear as indicated). What am I missing here?
I guess my question would be, what did the combat command(ers) know and when did they know it? Yes, the optics of this debacle look bad for the current regime (only happens on days ending in "Y"), but what might have happened behind the scenes?
Great write up of the “should haves” and the “have nots.”
It’s a disgrace. It further proves to all our adversaries, all meaning they are mounting up and getting in line, just how incompetent our President is, our Pentagon, and yes, even our Congress!
Our Adversaries are licking their chops!
Is Congress waiting for the President to make the right decision in Austin’s AWOL? It appears so.
Congress must act!
Congress knows this!
If Congress doesn’t act decisively, swiftly (too late), and in line with long standing military readiness policies that have made us a worthy nation in the eyes of all nations, then we surely are in a state of decline.
It’s shocking!
I just kept seeing the phrase … and so and so didn’t know Austin had cancer. Prostate cancer doesn’t mean eminent death. I’m sure many doctors will disagree with me, but it’s kinda equivalent to elective surgery to remove a little toe because of diabetes. Would you still be saying … Austin didn’t tell anybody he had diabetes! Probably not. The fact that something didn’t go right with the surgery and caused him to have to go to ICU is a problem and yes the fact that nobody was informed of his elective surgery and even covered up for him is also a problem.
LJ, thanks for taking the time to comment. Respectfully I disagree with you. If Austin or a senior general had diabetes, they should tell their boss. Why? Because diabetes alone is enough to make someone ineligible to enlist in the Army. That is because a diabetic experiencing a "sugar low" can unexpectedly zone out to the point where often a person suffering from that is mistakenly taken to be drunk. They cannot perform under these unexpected circumstances, and it can be life-threatening if not dealt with promptly.
You are correct that prostate cancer doesn't (usually) mean eminent death. Although I am not a doctor, I have had prostate cancer and radiation therapy, so I feel somewhat entitled to discuss it. Several points in response: (1) aside from whether Austin should have informed the President he had prostate cancer, after he was admitted to the hospital ICU, there is no reasonable argument in favor of keeping the C-I-C in the dark.
(2) Although prostate cancer is a long-term condition, it can lead to future health problems that the President needs to know about. Austin was not just an executive VP is a Fortune 50 company or even a lesser Cabinet secretary, where he might have a greater claim for privacy. The rules are different for a SECDEF or general officer. Even if the greatest risk of severe compromise to his ability to function is months or even, say, a year in the future, because of the nature of his position, the President needs to know if there is a risk that he is not a long-term player in the national security arena.
(3) It is not uncommon for prostate cancer patients to need treatments (even after surgery), hormone treatments, and/or chemotherapy. These can cause a diminished ability to function. If this is even a remote possibility, then any President needs to know if his SECDEF or Chairman of the JCS is at risk for this. If he were the Secretary of Transportation, there would be a better argument for non-disclosure, but he is not and, as I said, the rules are different for him.
Thanks again for taking the time to comment.
It is a mystery, isn't it?
I know someone who knows someone on the medical staff. Was told it was a gastric bypass surgery.
Something smells wrong about this. The facts, as stated, don't add up.
I am working on a follow-up. Can you privately email me your thoughts on this, I.e. what doesn’t add up and why?
johnalucas6@outlook.com
Thanks.