Who is Lloyd Austin?



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Regardless of whether he will be the first African-American Secretary of Defense, if his appointment is approved in Congress, the request of US President-elect Joe Biden for retired Army General Lloyd Austin to be the next Secretary of Defense, and his approval Lastly, it generated many questions. And also the answers, about the reasons for this choice. Austin’s choice was to eliminate the possibility of the arrival of the first American to head the “Pentagon.” Biden had chosen several names to make up his “transition” team at the Defense Department, which in one way or another suggested his “defense” orientations, but the name of the next defense minister, who would succeed Mark Esper, who recently he was removed from office, and Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller remained. The subject of speculation and disputes, within the Biden team, and the blocks that support it. While the name of Michel Florenay, who served as Undersecretary of Defense for Political Affairs under Barack Obama, to head the department, Biden has finally returned, apparently to also settle on one of the names that are familiar to him, a who proved well during his long tenure as former vice president. Another name for an African-American figure who was hesitant to lead the Pentagon was J. Johnson, but the election took place in the end, Politico revealed for the first time, and confirmed by other American media, for Lloyd Austin, who was the last general. American who led the invasion of Iraq. . Lloyd Austin will go down in history, if Congress approves his appointment, as the first black man to lead the Pentagon, after being the first black man to assume the central command of the US military, concerned about the Middle East region.

Austin was the first black man to occupy the Central Command of the US Army in the Middle East.

Although he has 41 years of military experience and graduated from the prestigious West Point Military Academy, Austin still has that “unknown” or invisible general, as described by The New York Times in 2014 A Framework Covering the Remaining US Forces in Iraq. The retired general continued to enjoy, throughout his long periods of work and his supervision of various US forces in Panama, Afghanistan and Iraq, with a low “profile.” Austin does not like to talk much, and he walks away from the media, meddles in politics, and spews military reports, but in the end he is about to reach a position that today, by virtue of the experience of the loser of the president American Donald Trump, is exposed to much criticism. Biden can, as seems clear, emulate the experience of his predecessor in appointing James Mattis as defense minister, and obtain a “dispensation”, to appoint Austin, the retired in 2016, since the norm states that any former military candidate to take charge of the Ministry of Defense must be retired since more than 7 years. But this confusion, and the breaking of the rule, is not the only thing that arises for Austin, whose election is adequate to the demands of the minorities of the Democratic Party, who want to see more Afro-descendants and other minorities in high positions. These rules had largely earned Biden his victory, including the progressive movement, in which personalities oppose this choice. On the one hand, the Blue Party had criticized in its recent conference the “politicization” of the army by Trump, or the politicization of the military establishment, and for this reason it preferred that any future defense minister be “civilian”. On the other hand, Austin currently sits on the board of directors of Rayton Technologies, one of the largest manufacturers of aviation and defense equipment in the world. Biden had previously chosen a large number of names within his “defense” team, from people close to these types of giants, or workers and consultants at prominent research centers, who receive funding from, for example, “Lockheed Martin”, “Rayton” and “General Dynamics”. Flournoy herself has been criticized by the leftist Democratic Party, as she is seen as very close to the arms industry. The quote raises questions about the theory of the “end of eternal wars” and the role of certain pressure groups in its formulation. Lloyd Austin’s autobiography is filled, like many prominent former American military leaders, who did not hesitate to publicly endorse Biden when he ran for president, in written letters that even called for America’s return to play its leading role in the world. , especially militarily. From here, he could understand Biden’s choice of Austin. Biden’s team confirmed to Politico that their correction is based on experience, noting that the Defense Ministry has recently witnessed several clashes, notably the firing of Esper, followed by Trump appointments that included loyalists. , but inexperienced, in exchange for wholesale resignations. Thus, the retired general, the 67-year-old who will assume the leadership of the Ministry of Defense, may be in his proper position to reconnect the components of the ministry that Trump is accused by his opponents of politicizing and dismantling it. Biden had worked with General Austin during the Obama era when he oversaw the implementation of the latter’s decision to withdraw 50,000 US troops from Iraq in 2011. Austin assumed command of US forces in the Middle East between 2013 and 2016, succeeding Mattis, who was the former Secretary of Defense in the Trump era between 2017 and 2019. Austin was born in Mobile, Alabama, and graduated from West Point Academy in 1975. He began his career in the military as a second lieutenant in the infantry, and later rose to the positions to direct the forces of battle in Panama and during the American invasion of Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom of the United States). He led US forces in Baghdad, as well as in the invasion of Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom). In 2009, he was appointed to the Pentagon as Director of the Joint Forces, then returned to Iraq, to ​​later be the twelfth Commander of the Central Command, “Centcom” between 2013 and 2016, where he oversaw the United States military campaign to combat ISIS. in Iraq and Syria.

Austin is considered the first military engineer of the campaigns of the international coalition established to defeat “ISIS”.

Austin is considered the first military engineer of the campaigns of the international coalition, which was established to defeat “ISIS”, and designed the basic plans to attack the organization, while supporting the forces on the ground, the most important of the which are the Kurdish forces. During a congressional hearing in 2015, Austin was the first American military officer to recognize his country’s support for the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria. This biography opens much speculation about Biden’s plans in the region and whether he will implement more withdrawals from it, which he wants “smoothly”, and ensures the balance of US interests in them. Austin’s appointment also comes at a time when the next American administration affirms its effort to restore its traditional alliances in Europe and confront China, especially by strengthening the military partnership with neighboring Chinese countries, including Japan and India, as well as by strengthening the naval, offensive and missile arsenal, and restoring Accords to limit weapon types and continued deterrent superiority. In the Middle East, the Iran issue looms as one of Austin’s biggest challenges. Nationally, Austin faces the task of adjusting war and defense budgets, while reducing military spending.



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