Good evening to all...
I imagine that most people have heard that US Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) has been in the hospital after complications from a surgical procedure. There is more to this story. Apparently, no one told the President (POTUS) that SECDEF was indisposed for at least two days. Worse, POTUS did not realize that SECDEF was down. In these situations, the Under-Secretary would take over. She was not informed. When she found out, she did not rush back to Washington DC from her vacation.
On the off chance that you have chosen a path of calm, a path that does not involve doom-scrolling (a term I have recently learned), then you are blissfully unaware that the world is ablaze. Looking specifically at the Gulf of Oman area, Houthi rebels have targeted civilian shipping as well as US Naval vessels.
Questions abound:
1. Why was there a delay of two days in informing POTUS that SECDEF was down?
2. Who was supposed to tell POTUS that SECDEF was down?
3. Why did POTUS not realize that SECDEF was down even without being told?
4. With the dynamic situation in the Gulf of Oman, a situation in which US Naval vessels are threatened and in which those ships are responding, who is advising POTUS on rules of engagement (ROE)?
5. Who is making decisions in SECDEF's absence?
6. Why was the Under-Secretary not informed immediately that her boss was down?
The Oval Office needs to respond to this.
R/SCG
