Pentagon chief still in hospital after 13 days

The US defence secretary needs to be in the chain of command before the president gives the go ahead for military action anywhere in the world. Lloyd Austin, former four-star army general, knows all about the authorisation process for such moments. This time, with the plan to hit the Houthis in Yemen in retaliation for their missile strikes against shipping in the Red Sea, Austin had to perform his duties from his hospital bed in the Walter Reed hospital in Washington. Officials are falling over themselves to say that Austin carried out his duties without any problem. But the extraordinary and unexplained thing is why the defence secretary remains in hospital after nearly two weeks, and the Pentagon says there is no date for his release. He had emergency treatment to relieve the pain he was suffering after a prostrate operation in December but that was on January 1 and since then the Pentagon has been saying he was recovering well. But two weeks have gone by and he is still there. Has something else happened which has persuaded the doctors to keep him hospitalised? If so, why isn't anyone saying anything? This whole episode has been revealing for its lack of transparency.