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Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was released Monday from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center following complications he suffered after undergoing surgery for prostate cancer, a Pentagon statement said.
"The Secretary continues to recover well and, on the advice of doctors, will recuperate and perform his duties remotely for a period of time before returning full-time to the Pentagon," the statement said. "He has full access to required secure communications capabilities."
"He underwent a series of medical tests and evaluations and received non-surgical care during his stay to address his medical needs, to include resolving some lingering leg pains," they said in the statement. "He was discharged home with planned physical therapy and regular follow up. The Secretary is expected to make a full recovery."No pictures or video of him going home, but the ABC in their coverage has 'his' statement:
Austin, in his own statement, said he will continue to "recuperate and perform my duties from home" and looked forward to returning to the Pentagon as quickly as possible.There is a lot of fishiness in this whole story. It will be interesting to see if and when he actually returns to work.
"I'm grateful for the excellent care I received at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and want to thank the outstanding doctors and nursing staff for their professionalism and superb support," he said. "I also am thankful and appreciative for all the well wishes I received for a speedy recovery."



Comment: Back in the real world, where people understand that one doesn't spend a week in the ICU for a bladder infection, the more plausible story seems to be that Austin was injured by a missile strike during a secret visit to Ukraine. While there is a 'gentlemen's agreement' between major powers not to target each others' senior officials, if Austin was there unannounced, he may well have been caught in one of Russia's recent missile barrages on Ukraine "decision-making centers". Perhaps the truth will never fully come out, but there's plenty of smoke around this to suspect a fire.