enhanced_deficit
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This woud be powerful multi-front war per new Sec of Def. His Director position at Tenet Healthcare and affiliaton with Biden Sec of State Blinken through PIC investment Co. should put him in a unique position to tackle both domestic Pandemic threat (besides domestic extremism etc) front and foreign front.
Defense Secretary Nominee: US Faces Enemies Both at Home and Abroad
By Jeff Seldin
January 19, 2021
Secretary of Defense nominee Lloyd Austin, a recently retired Army general, attends his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill, January 19, 2021, in Washington.
WASHINGTON - U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Pentagon warns the country is facing a series of enemies, both at home and abroad, and that it will fall, in part, to the United States military to overcome the dangers.
Retired General Lloyd Austin appeared before lawmakers Tuesday and said his first priority if confirmed as the country’s next secretary of defense would be to make sure all military resources are brought to bear against the coronavirus pandemic.
"The greatest challenge to our country right now ... is the pandemic," Austin told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wearing a suit and tie instead of the Army dress uniform he wore when he testified in Congress as the commander of U.S. military forces across the Middle East and South Asia.
"It's killed over 400,000 of our American citizens. That's just an incredible, incredible loss of life," he said. “We have to do everything we can to break the cycle of transmission and begin to turn this thing around."
Austin did not offer specifics about how he would ramp up the Pentagon’s current efforts to distribute the coronavirus vaccines as part of what has been known as Operation Warp Speed. But he said he does believe there is more the Pentagon can do to counter what he described as the “most immediate” national security challenge.
Countering extremism at home
Austin spoke shortly after U.S. defense officials announced 12 National Guard troops initially assigned to help provide security for Biden’s inauguration Wednesday were removed due to extremist ties. Austin pledged to take on what he called the enemy within.
“The job of the Department of Defense is to keep America safe from our enemies, but we can't do that if some of those enemies lie with our own ranks," he said.
“This [extremism] has no place in the military of the United States of America,” Austin added, describing it as part of a broader battle.
“I will fight hard to stamp out sexual assault and to rid our ranks of racists and extremists and to create a climate where everyone fit and willing has the opportunity to serve," he told U.S. lawmakers.
voanews.com/usa/defense-secretary-nominee-us-faces-enemies-both-home-and-abroad
Defense Secretary Nominee: US Faces Enemies Both at Home and Abroad
By Jeff Seldin
January 19, 2021
Secretary of Defense nominee Lloyd Austin, a recently retired Army general, attends his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill, January 19, 2021, in Washington.
WASHINGTON - U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Pentagon warns the country is facing a series of enemies, both at home and abroad, and that it will fall, in part, to the United States military to overcome the dangers.
Retired General Lloyd Austin appeared before lawmakers Tuesday and said his first priority if confirmed as the country’s next secretary of defense would be to make sure all military resources are brought to bear against the coronavirus pandemic.
"The greatest challenge to our country right now ... is the pandemic," Austin told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wearing a suit and tie instead of the Army dress uniform he wore when he testified in Congress as the commander of U.S. military forces across the Middle East and South Asia.
"It's killed over 400,000 of our American citizens. That's just an incredible, incredible loss of life," he said. “We have to do everything we can to break the cycle of transmission and begin to turn this thing around."
Austin did not offer specifics about how he would ramp up the Pentagon’s current efforts to distribute the coronavirus vaccines as part of what has been known as Operation Warp Speed. But he said he does believe there is more the Pentagon can do to counter what he described as the “most immediate” national security challenge.
Countering extremism at home
Austin spoke shortly after U.S. defense officials announced 12 National Guard troops initially assigned to help provide security for Biden’s inauguration Wednesday were removed due to extremist ties. Austin pledged to take on what he called the enemy within.
“The job of the Department of Defense is to keep America safe from our enemies, but we can't do that if some of those enemies lie with our own ranks," he said.
“This [extremism] has no place in the military of the United States of America,” Austin added, describing it as part of a broader battle.
“I will fight hard to stamp out sexual assault and to rid our ranks of racists and extremists and to create a climate where everyone fit and willing has the opportunity to serve," he told U.S. lawmakers.
voanews.com/usa/defense-secretary-nominee-us-faces-enemies-both-home-and-abroad
