Did Pentagon Chief Austin’s Secret Hospitalization Break the Rules? 

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin attends a welcome ceremony before an annual security meeting with South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik at the Defense Ministry in Seoul, South Korea on November 13, 2023. (Reuters)
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin attends a welcome ceremony before an annual security meeting with South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik at the Defense Ministry in Seoul, South Korea on November 13, 2023. (Reuters)
TT

Did Pentagon Chief Austin’s Secret Hospitalization Break the Rules? 

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin attends a welcome ceremony before an annual security meeting with South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik at the Defense Ministry in Seoul, South Korea on November 13, 2023. (Reuters)
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin attends a welcome ceremony before an annual security meeting with South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik at the Defense Ministry in Seoul, South Korea on November 13, 2023. (Reuters)

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin may have violated the law by failing to report his recent hospitalization to his boss, but likely only faces a reprimand from US President Joe Biden, despite some calls for his resignation, two legal experts said on Monday.

WHAT DID AUSTIN DO?

Austin, 70, was admitted on New Year's Day to an Intensive Care Unit at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for what the Pentagon has said were "complications following a recent elective medical procedure," a fact the Defense Department kept under wraps for five days.

Austin sits just below Biden atop the chain of command of the US military, but his staff did not inform the White House of his condition for three days, and even his own top deputy was kept in the dark.

PUBLIC, PRIVATE PROTOCOL

His handling of the situation appeared to be a stark breach of protocol for high-ranking cabinet officials, who typically inform the public of planned medical absences ahead of time and identify who will be filling in for them.

Austin's duties require him to be available at a moment's notice to respond to any national security crisis. He said on Saturday that he "could have done a better job" and took "full responsibility" for the secrecy over his hospitalization.

White House officials have said Biden still has "complete confidence" in Austin, who remains in the hospital but has returned to his regular duties.

WHAT RULES MIGHT HE HAVE BROKEN?

Legal experts said Austin may have violated a US law on "reporting of vacancies" that requires executive agencies to report top-level absences and the names of anyone serving in an acting capacity to both houses of Congress. The law is largely procedural and does not spell out any penalties for lapses.

Legal experts said that Austin appears to have clearly violated the rule but will likely face only a reprimand and a warning from Biden. Any top deputies or staff responsible could face similar consequences.

Austin may have also violated internal US Department of Defense protocols, and officials say they are conducting a full review of the incident to determine how future lapses could be prevented.

WHEN DID HE TALK TO BIDEN?

Austin spoke to Biden, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the morning of Jan. 1 before he went to the hospital, the White House said. The "secure conference call" was about the Middle East. Biden was in St. Croix on vacation at the time.

There was then no contact with the White House or National Security Council until Jan. 4, the White House said. Biden and Austin next spoke on Jan. 6, the White House said.

White House officials said Biden continued to be briefed on national security issues by other officials during Austin's hospitalization, and the president received his daily national security briefing prepared by the intelligence community. The daily briefing includes input from the Defense Department but is not produced by them.

WHAT DOES CONGRESS SAY?

Congressional leaders are calling for an inquiry.

Lawmakers from both parties said they were deeply concerned that the president did not know his top civilian commander was hospitalized for three days at a time when wars are being fought in Gaza and Ukraine.

US Senator Roger Wicker, the highest-ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on Saturday that the situation was "unacceptable" and demanded a "full accounting of the facts immediately."

Former President Donald Trump, who is Biden's likely Republican challenger in the 2024 election, said on Sunday night that Austin should be fired for his "improper professional conduct and dereliction of duty."

Democratic Senator Jack Reed, the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said: "This lack of disclosure must never happen again."

PENTAGON REVIEW

Asked if the general counsel's office at the Defense Department believed Austin violated laws, chief Pentagon spokesperson Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder told reporters: "We are considering the impact of any statutory reporting requirements and will provide updates as appropriate."

He later added that the reporting requirements being examined would not just involve Congress. "It's to Congress, the White House or anyone else," he said.



A Family, a Bride, a Domestic Worker: The Toll of Israeli Strikes on Lebanon

 Smoke billows over southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Tyre, Lebanon September 25, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke billows over southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Tyre, Lebanon September 25, 2024. (Reuters)
TT

A Family, a Bride, a Domestic Worker: The Toll of Israeli Strikes on Lebanon

 Smoke billows over southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Tyre, Lebanon September 25, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke billows over southern Lebanon following an Israeli strike, amid ongoing cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Tyre, Lebanon September 25, 2024. (Reuters)

Ahead of Lebanese engineer Maya Gharib's wedding planned for next month, excited relatives were arranging for her dress to be picked up.

But on Monday, 23-year-old Gharib, her two sisters and their parents were killed in an Israeli strike on their home in a suburb of the southern city of Tyre, said Gharib's brother Reda, the only surviving member of the family.

Israel says Monday's strikes targeted Hezbollah weapons. Lebanon's health ministry said the attacks left more than 550 people dead, including at least 50 children and 98 women, in Lebanon's bloodiest day since the end of the 1975-90 Civil War.

A screenshot shared with Reuters shows a message sent by a relative to the dress shop after the Gharib family died: "The bride was martyred."

"They were just sitting at home, and then the house was targeted," Reda Gharib, who moved to Senegal last year for work, told Reuters in a phone call.

The family were buried in a rushed funeral the next day, with few people in attendance due to the danger of strikes. Reda was unable to fly in as most flights had been cancelled amid ongoing Israeli attacks and rocket fire from Hezbollah.

His father was a retired veteran of Lebanon's army, a cross-sectarian force funded by the US and other countries and widely seen as source of unity in Lebanon. His sisters were all in their 20s.

"We are a nationalistic family with no party affiliation, though of course we stand with everyone who resists aggression," Reda Gharib said, noting no member of the family was a member of Hezbollah.

But he says that now, having lost his family, he wanted Hezbollah to continue fighting Israel "until victory" and not to accept any negotiations.

'INDISCRIMINATE'

Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel on Oct. 8, the day after the Palestinian group Hamas attacked southern Israel, declaring a "support front" for Palestinians.

The clashes escalated sharply since last week, with hundreds killed and thousands injured in Lebanon as Israel wages an air campaign that has seen strikes in most parts of the country.

In the days since the chaos unleashed by the Israeli strikes on Monday, other reports have emerged of families with many members killed.

In the southern town of Hanouiyeh, an Israeli strike killed eight members of one family and a live-in domestic worker from Gambia, relatives said.

Mohammad Saksouk, whose brother Hassan was among those killed, told Reuters the strike hit a building next to the family home, which collapsed onto theirs.

He said the family had nothing to do with Hezbollah and criticized the Israelis for "indiscriminate" attacks while also questioning why Lebanon had been dragged into a battle that Hezbollah says is in support of Palestinians.

"Now, we're homeless. We are living in the streets," he said via phone from a temporary shelter. "Before, we were living completely normal lives. Who will give us back our homes?"

The victims included Hassan Saksouk, his adult children Mohammad and Mona, Mohammad's wife Fatima and their 9-month-old daughter Rima, as well as Mona's three children, all under nine years old.

Anna, the Gambian worker in her early 30s, also perished.

The coastal town of Saksakieh saw 11 civilians killed on Monday, including six women and two children, according to Mayor Ali Abbas, who said there were direct strikes on homes.

"These are civilian homes, they have nothing to do with any kind of military installation," Abbas told Reuters.