The news site Politico and the broadcaster CNN reported on Monday evening local time. Austin (67) was most recently Commander of the US Armed Forces in the Middle East (Centcom) from 2013 until his retirement in 2016 and is therefore familiar with the current trouble spots. Centcom is responsible for the US operations in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, among others. At the beginning of his more than 40-year career in the US military, Austin was initially deployed in Germany, according to Centcom.
Austin would not only need confirmation from the Senate, but also an exemption from Congress, the US Parliament. According to the applicable regulations, there must be at least seven years between active military service and an appointment as Minister of Defense. The background is that the Pentagon is to be run by a civilian. The first defense minister of the now voted out US President Donald Trump, ex-General James Mattis, received such a special permit in 2017. Mattis resigned at the end of 2018 after Trump announced a withdrawal of a large part of the US troops from Syria.
Austin was a general in command of the US troops in Iraq from September 2010 to the end of 2011. The then US President Barack Obama – whose deputy was Biden – had expressly praised Austin on the occasion of the general’s departure from active service in the spring of 2016. Obama said at the time that Austin’s “wise judgment and unwavering leadership” had helped him as president in the fight against the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS).
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