In America, Austin underwent surgery for prostate cancer. How is the head of the Pentagon?

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin developed a urinary tract infection following surgery to remove prostate cancer. Clarification on the health conditions has finally come directly from doctors quoted by the US Department of Defense, underlining how the cancer was caught in its early stages and how Austin's prognosis is “excellent”. The revelation comes after days of controversy following news of the Pentagon chief's secret hospitalization.

On December 22, Austin underwent surgery at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C., and was discharged the following day. All this happened within four days, during which time neither US President Joe Biden nor Secretary of State Anthony Blinken nor Austin's deputy Kathleen Hicks were aware of the situation. Even about the December surgery, no information was provided. The Pentagon decided to alert Biden on Thursday evening, three-and-a-half days after he was hospitalized, only after his condition worsened.

The case has sparked controversy for a lack of transparency in communications — Austin, as defense secretary, is sixth in the government line — and a breakdown in protocol. Within days of the former general's top-secret hospitalisation, the US launched a military operation in Baghdad, killing the leader of a militant group that had recently carried out attacks against US soldiers. The operation had already received the green light from Austin, but the former general's prolonged absence and the fact that the White House was kept in the dark about his hospitalization prompted a backlash from the opposition. Republicans called for “consequences,” while Donald Trump called for the defense secretary to be fired “for failing to fulfill his duties.”