Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is expected to take questions from the press Thursday morning for the first time since his secret hospitalization and since the deadly drone attack in Jordan that killed three American soldiers.
On Sunday, Austin issued a statement in response to their deaths by warning the U.S. “will respond at a time and place of our choosing.” CBS News has learned that plans have been approved for a series of retaliatory strikes in Iraq or Syria potentially over several days.
In the news conference Thursday, Austin is likely to face questions about the drone attack, ongoing tensions in the Middle East and his recent hospitalization and cancer diagnosis, which he hid from the White House, Congress and the public.
Austin was released from the hospital on Jan. 15 and returned to work in person at the Pentagon on Monday. He was hospitalized on New Year’s Day, following complications from a recent surgery to treat and cure prostate cancer. Neither Austin nor his staff informed the White House or the public for several days that he had been hospitalized and spent time in the ICU.
In a written statement, he took “full responsibility” for decisions made about disclosing his health, but Thursday is his first opportunity to tell the public why he made those decisions.
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