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The Biden administration named Lloyd Austin, a retired army general, as its pick for secretary of defense, a move that might be historic but may at the same time enrage some progressives.
Following widespread media reports, Biden’s team issued a statement saying it had chosen Austin, who under the Obama administration led US military operations in the Middle East as head of the US Central Command. If confirmed, he would be the first black man to fill the position.
Austin has also served as a senior commander in Iraq and was the Army’s first deputy chief of black staff, the second-highest-ranking officer in the service.
“With a distinguished record of military service spanning four decades, Secretary-designate Austin is a deeply experienced and highly decorated commander who has served with distinction in several of the Pentagon’s most crucial positions,” he said in a statement.
The administration had also reportedly been considering other Obama alumni for the position, including Jeh Johnson, a former secretary of homeland security, and Michèle Flournoy, who served as undersecretary of defense for policy.
Before retiring from public service in 2016, Austin faced scrutiny for the United States’ role in spending hundreds of millions of dollars to train just a handful of Syrian groups during the country’s civil war and for painting an overly optimistic portrait of American intelligence in the region. on topics like terrorism and the progress of the United States military.
Four-star general Lloyd Austin is reportedly on the short list to be Joe Biden’s secretary of defense.
(AFP via Getty Images)
The retired general is on the board of directors of Raytheon, a major Pentagon contractor, as well as steelmaker Nucor and health care company Tenet.
Biden is committed to assembling the most diverse cabinet of senior leaders in United States history and has named people of color as his picks to lead agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security.
Common Dreams pointed to a tweet from Danielle Brian, executive director of the watchdog group Project on Government Oversight, who said that Biden’s selection of Austin spelled “bad news for civilian control. [of the armed forces] and any real distance from the military-industrial complex ”.
