Joe Biden would name an African American for the first time …

The President-elect of the United States Joe biden I would appoint the retired general Lloyd Austin as Secretary of Defense. It would be the first time that an African American has become the leader of the Pentagon, a position that assumes civilian control of the military establishment. Austin, 67, had participated in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Although the news is not yet official, the US media The New York Times, ABC Yes Politico they take it for granted. The former general will have under his command the largest army in the world, with 1.3 million active soldiers. the 43 percent of this total is made up of men and women from ethnic minorities, 16 percent of whom are black.. If his candidacy is confirmed, the former soldier could be opposed to Congress, which must give the green light. This is due to the fact He did not complete the necessary seven years out of the forces to fill the post.

Military career

Austin’s appointment is known amid the growing pressure on Biden to appoint more minority members to key positions of his cabinet. Of the 41 most senior commanders in the US military, only two are black.reported the newspaper The New York Times. Austin spent four decades in the military. He graduated from West Point Military Academy and pursued a career with a wide range of assignments, ranging from leading platoons, leading logistics groups and overseeing recruiting to senior positions in the Pentagon. In March 2003, he served as assistant to the commander of the 3rd Infantry Division when it marched from Kuwait to Baghdad during the US invasion of Iraq. During this time, from late 2003 to 2005, he was in Afghanistan as the head of Joint Task Force 180, the primary operating group in the region.

With former President Barack Obama in the White House, former General had assumed the leadership of Central Army Command (Centcom) between 2013 and 2016. This body oversees military actions in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq, Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia. Also Austin He was responsible for leading the US military campaign against the Islamic State In the region. To occupy this position, he had replaced Jim mattis, who then served as Secretary of Defense to Republican President Donald Trump from 2017 to 2019. In 2015, Austin stumbled in Congress. During a hearing he had to admit that the Pentagon spent $ 500 million on a training program for Syrian opposition fighters that was virtually unnecessary.

Conflict of interest

The former general retired from Centcom in 2016 and went into the defense industry

, like many of its predecessors. He joined the boards of Raytheon Technologies CO, one of the Pentagon’s biggest entrepreneurs; Nucor, the largest steel producer in the United States; the medical insurer Tenet; and in 2016, he founded Austin Strategy Group LLC, another defense-related company. His position in some of these companies is indicated by progressive sectors that speak of conflict of interest. Democratic ranks they would ask you to apologize for decisions about these companies.

To take office, Austin will also need special Senate approval. This is due to the fact Federal law says military officers must wait seven years after retirement to become Pentagon chief. However, this exception has already been granted twice, the most recent for Mattis. Members of the Senate then reluctantly agreed, amid concerns about Trump’s plans for the military, and several lawmakers had said they would not do it again. “It shouldn’t be considered for the same reason Secretary Mattis shouldn’t have been.. (…) Biden would be the second president in a row to break this rule, ”Republican MP Justin Amash said in a Twitter post.

The former general was one of three candidates who rang for the post alongside the former Secretary of National Security Jeh johnson, also African-American, and perhaps the favorite, the Pentagon official Michéle A. Flournoy. The latter was Undersecretary of Defense during Barack Obama’s presidency and also sounded like the candidate best placed to take control of the Pentagon in a hypothetical victory for Hillary Clinton in 2016. If appointed, Flournoy would have become the first woman to lead the Pentagon. .

In this way, Biden continues to complement his cabinet. In recent weeks he had appointed Janet Yellen in charge of the Treasury; Antony Blinken as Secretary of State; Alejandro Mayorkas head of national security. The last novelty was that of Xavier Becerra in health. The Mexican-born politician will work alongside Anthony Fauci in the plan to stop the advance of the coronavirus in the country. Becerra has extensive congress experience and is An active supporter of the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.