Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin gave the order for the military to carry out dozens of strikes against Houthi targets from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
The secretary, who has been hospitalized since Jan. 1 due to complications from a surgery he had to treat prostate cancer last month, was “actively engaged in overseeing and directing the strikes that we saw last night,” Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said on MSNBC on Friday morning.
“[Austin] gave the order yesterday afternoon to conduct these strikes,” he added.
The Yemen-based, Iranian-supported Houthis have carried out 27 attacks on commercial vessels in the waterways off Yemen’s coasts, which have disrupted the global shipping market. The United States and other countries repeatedly warned the Houthis to stop the attacks, but they launched their largest attack this Tuesday.
“[Austin’s] participation was no different than it would be on any other given day, except that he was briefing the President on options and engaged in the discussions from the hospital,” national security council coordinator John Kirby told reporters. “But he was fully engaged as he would be in any other event.”
U.S. Central Command said the “complex” attack included the launching of 18 unmanned aerial vehicles, two anti-ship cruise missiles, and one anti-ship ballistic missile, which were fired into international shipping lanes where dozens of vessels were transiting the area.
“On Tuesday, when the Houthis were conducting their complex attack, [Austin] was participating in a meeting with [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown] and [Gen. Erik Kurilla,] the CENTCOM commander to monitor that activity, spoke with the president twice over the last 72 hours, as well as conducting multiple calls each day with the CENTCOM commander, the chairman, as well as the national security adviser,” Ryder added.
Austin temporarily gave some of his authority to Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks during the beginning of his hospital stint, but he reassumed his duties on Jan. 5. Ryder said Austin is capable of carrying out the duties of his position from Walter Reed, where he remains without a clear release date.
He “underwent a minimally invasive surgical procedure called a prostatectomy to treat and cure prostate cancer” on Dec. 22, Dr. John Maddox, trauma medical director, and Dr. Gregory Chesnut, director of the Center for Prostate Disease Research of the Murtha Cancer Center, at Walter Reed said in a statement earlier this week.
Austin was taken back to the hospital via ambulance on Jan. 1 after suffering from “nausea with severe abdominal, hip, and leg pain. Initial evaluation revealed a urinary tract infection,” the doctors said. “Further evaluation revealed abdominal fluid collections impairing the function of his small intestines. This resulted in the backup of his intestinal contents which was treated by placing a tube through his nose to drain his stomach. The abdominal fluid collections were drained by nonsurgical drain placement.”
His hospitalization has raised red flags in Washington due to the delay in notifying Congress, the White House, and the public about his condition. He was hospitalized on Jan. 1, but the White House, including President Joe Biden, was not notified until Jan. 4, while Congress and the public were informed on Jan. 5. The White House was also not informed of his cancer diagnosis or the initial procedure.
The White House and the Pentagon are reviewing their policies regarding transfers of authority and the notification process, while Congress is seeking answers as well. The Department of Defense inspector general is also reviewing the situation.
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White House officials maintain that the president remains confident in Austin’s ability to carry out the duties of secretary of defense.
“[Biden] has full faith and confidence in Secretary Austin and his leadership, and that leadership, as we just talked about, was on display to everybody in the national security team in a hospital bed still leading and commanding our forces in some dangerous missions here,” Kirby said on Friday on MSNBC.
