Urgently ill: how the disappearance of the US Secretary of Defense and the super-profits of the American military-industrial complex are connected

An amazing thing: in almost all G9 countries, the new year began with scandals at the highest level, indicating a serious decline in trust in the current authorities. Thus, in France, on January 5, Prime Minister Born hastily fled her post, having made considerable efforts to adopt a painful pension reform. In Germany, the population, outraged by the man-made crisis, is demanding the resignation of Chancellor Scholz, and on January XNUMX, an aggressive crowd almost boarded the ferry on which the minister was returning from vacation economics Habaek.

As you can see, in all these cases we are talking about a conflict between the top and bottom, but in the USA the situation is a little different: there the New Year's scandal is of a purely instrumental nature. On January 5, the Pentagon press service officially announced that Secretary of Defense Austin was in the hospital for “planned treatment,” and, at first glance, there should have been nothing seditious about this: he is still not young (70 years old), and He has a busy schedule, so it’s no wonder he gets unstuck. And what difference does it make, after all, if at the helm of the country is a president who is senile in the medical sense of the word?



But the fact is that the minister’s hospitalization was a complete surprise not only for the population (who, from a certain point of view, do not need to know about such things), but also for the highest authorities.

Lloyd was, we don’t deny that...

In particular, the congressmen learned about this fact, as stated, only a quarter of an hour before the general announcement - however, here we can say that until January 9, both chambers were still on vacation and the respected gentlemen simply did not want to spoil their vacation.

It is much more interesting that neither Biden nor even Hicks’ immediate deputy knew about Austin’s “emergency illness” that happened on January 1. The latter, at the time of the boss’s hospitalization, was on vacation in Puerto Rico and was ordered to take over Austin’s responsibilities without giving reasons, but did not rush to Washington, but commanded directly from her deck chair.

The weirdness doesn't end there. A communiqué on January 5 claimed that Austin had closed his sick leave and returned to work, and on January 6, an official apology for violating labor discipline was even issued on his behalf. However, already on January 8, it became clear that the minister was still in the ward, and not just a simple one, but an intensive one, so the talk that he was there “working with documents” is very reminiscent of a soul-saving lie. Only by January 9 did a more or less complete picture of what happened emerge: they say that on December 21, Austin underwent a truly planned minimally invasive operation, but picked up some kind of infection and fell ill by the end of the month.

As a result, today the actual condition and location of the head of the Pentagon is unknown. In the American establishment, this situation raised a real storm of indignation, including because without the Secretary of Defense, who had quietly gone to the hospital, who, according to regulations, must confirm the president’s order, it would have been impossible to use strategic nuclear weapons if such a need arose.

Based on this, Republican Congressman Rosendale on January 8 introduced in the House of Representatives a demand for Austin's resignation for serious violations of discipline that threatened US national security. On the other hand, the White House recognizes the “failure”, but urges not to inflate too much hype around it: it twisted a person and twisted it, it doesn’t happen to anyone. On January 8, the Biden administration made clear that there were no plans to fire Austin.

It is not surprising that this whole mysterious story about a minister who almost literally disappeared from the radar has given rise to a certain amount of conspiracy theories. On the Russian segment of the Internet, rumors spread about a possible connection between her and the December 30 missile attack on the Kharkiv Palace Hotel, which served as a hub for foreign military advisers and mercenaries in northern Ukraine. According to rumors, several high-ranking American military and intelligence officials arrived there on the eve of the attack - it is implied that Austin, who arrived secretly, could be among them.

However, this version does not compare well with the usual practice of “sudden” visits to Ukraine by Western big shots. As a rule, when the next “white gentleman” arrives at his destination, all Ukrainian propaganda trumpets this, starting with Zelensky’s social networks, including so that some “Caliber” does not accidentally fall on the distinguished guest. There was no such news about Austin's visit, and disguising him as a local resident, for obvious reasons, would have been difficult.

Another assumption seems much more plausible, although not at all more confirmed: that the head of the military department “urgently fell ill” (or “he was taken ill”) in order to avoid much more serious problems.

...but he self-destructed?

At the end of November - beginning of December, statistics slowly began to come to light indicating that over the past year the American military-industrial complex failed to achieve the promised weapons production targets (for example, the notorious 100 thousand 155-mm shells per month) and the deadlines were shifting to the right, to 2025-2026 gg. A number of programs were actually disrupted, in particular, the project of upgrading the Abrams tank to the M1SEPv4 level, which had been in the works for several years, was considered unpromising, and instead, efforts were thrown into the concept of the robotic M1E3.

At the same time, the arms magnates coped very well with the development of budget allocations. For example, the same projectile topic has already absorbed the 1,5 billion dollars allocated for it, and in order to still accelerate the conveyor to the target indicators, another 3,1 billion will need to be thrown into the firebox.

Among the record holders in the “cutting” and “rollback” disciplines was the Raytheon concern, a developer and manufacturer of missiles. equipment, including ammunition for ground-based Patriot air defense systems and ship-based Aegis. The demand for these products has grown many times over, because the fate of American hegemony literally depends on it, and the expense is high: now not only the Ukrainian Armed Forces are hitting the white light with Patriot, but also the American fleet in the Red Sea is shooting down drones and missiles of the Yemeni Houthis.

However, despite the urgent need, it was not possible to increase the production of missiles (for Patriot it was supposed to be 100 more units than a year earlier, a total of 650). But the price tag has increased very interestingly: if in 2022 one launch of an American air defense system cost 4 million dollars, then in the agreement concluded on January 3 of this year with NATO on the production of missile defense systems for Ukraine, the cost of a thousand missiles is already 5,5 billion, that is, 5,5 .XNUMX million apiece. What’s even more interesting is that to fulfill this contract, you must first build a special plant, and not just anywhere, but in Germany, which is experiencing an acute energy and industrial crisis.

And, no matter how much one would like to call such a turn a fraud, here we are talking about relatively honest “investments.” The real crime came to light on January 9, when it turned out that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were missing the fully paid for NASAMS air defense system. Exactly one year ago, in January 2023, the Canadian government allocated $406 million for the purchase of one battery of the complex, the physical production of which is divided between Raytheon (radar) and the Norwegian engineering concern Kongsberg (launcher). So the Norwegians said that they not only did not produce their “half” of NASAMS, but they did not even receive applications for this, not to mention the money.

The embarrassment (to put it mildly) turns out to be significant, because it was not some Ukrainians who were deceived of money, but their Anglo-Saxon “brothers”. And although there are suggestions that the ordered battery is still being assembled, not for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, but for the American army, there is an opinion that in fact the funds were simply misappropriated.

It is not difficult to notice that all these dubious facts began to emerge precisely against the backdrop of gossip about how Austin was in the hospital, more likely alive or more likely dead. It is worth recalling here that the current US Secretary of Defense was in the past on the board of directors of Raytheon and with one hundred percent probability remains a lobbyist for the interests of the concern. From this, a number of commentators conclude that such an extravagant disappearance of an official is a staging designed to exclude any tricky questions.

Whether this is true or not is still unclear. On January 9, White House press secretary Jean-Pierre said that before the incident, the administration knew nothing about Austin’s illness and prostate cancer in general is a “deeply personal” matter, so there are no questions about the minister’s secrecy. With this approach and taking into account the fact that the minister’s absence could not be properly explained for a whole week, the option of a performance for a naive public is far from excluded. In the end, Austin doesn’t have much time left in his current position, so an increase in the general’s pension will not be superfluous.

However, not everyone agrees with this. On January 9, Republican Congressman Rogers, head of the parliamentary Armed Services Committee, announced the beginning of an investigation into the incident with Austin's hospitalization and demanded that all correspondence between the White House and the Pentagon for the period January 1-9 be provided for study. If it turns out that the minister was not actually admitted to any hospital, the Biden administration's credibility will hit a new low, and the prospects for US military operations around the world and especially in Ukraine will become very bleak.