Hagel Said to Be Stepping Down as Defense Chief Under Pressure

[BMT (RIP)]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/25/us/hagel-said-to-be-stepping-down-as-defense-chief-under-pressure.html

BMT

[TrapperFrank]

The E4 Mafia will be losing its most prominent member. Such a tragedy.

[Streck-Fu]

I guess Obama wants more of a Yes Man.

[NurseTim]

I bet al not-so-sharpton gets the nod.:rolleyes:

[Old Dog New Trick]

No mention of the illegal Bergdahl swap in there. I would have thought for sure someone should take more heat for that brainy action.

[JimP]

I guess Obama wants more of a Yes Man.

Good luck finding a more agreeable dupe.

[ddoering]

Eric Holder is looking for work.

[MR2]

Eric Holder is looking for work.

Somehow I doubt that - I mean that literally...

[Airbornelawyer]

The names that I have seen thrown around, starting with the NY Times article, were two bureaucrat/Washington insiders, and Sen. Jack Reed from Rhode Island. Reed has apparently already stated he's not interested. Interestlngly, all the Times said about Reed was that he was a former officer in the 82nd Airborne. But with three terms as a Congressman and halfway through his third term as a US Senator, I can't think of a single issue, much less a defense issue, on which he is considered a leading voice. He does, however, have one of the highest ratings among Democratic Senators from the liberal Americans for Democratic Action.

The other two are Ash Carter, physicist, technocrat and former DSD, and Michele Flournoy, woman. I'm sure she as more on her resume, like USD, but that seems to be all anyone is focusing on - "will Obama name the first female Secretary of Defense?" - yadda, yadda, yadda. She is also more explicitly partisan, having contributed to the Kerry, Hillary Clinton, and Obama presidential campaigns, Jack Reed's Senate campaigns, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Someone more nakedly partisan would be unlikely to make it through confirmation now that it will be John McCain's committee. Despite his partisanship, Reed would have had the advantage of Senate collegiality. Maybe another outgoing Senator like Tom Harkin or Tim Johnson. Jim Webb's name has been floated, but among Democrats I can't think of a less likely Obama yes-man except maybe Joe Manchin.

So we can expect a subservient Washington insider willing to be a doormat for the Obama White House's defense cuts and confused foreign policy. In other words, somebody like Hagel has shown himself to be, which really makes me wonder what he did to get canned.

[The Reaper]

AL:

Good assessment.

And who would want to take the job, knowing they are an outsider to the POTUS' inner circle, with limited access and influence, but all of the responsibility and blame, if something goes wrong?

Basically, the new Sec Def (unless it is Rice or Jarrett) is going to be a fall guy (or gal).

TR

[Badger52]

I'd rule out Jarrett - she's a puppeteer, rather than a marionette.

I could see Rice happening, with no faith that any of her past baggage would be anything but a blustery sideshow for a few weeks, but doubt she'd take it. She probably enjoys the view from the VIP box now as well. Carter & Flournoy are "solid" ticks in the Defense carousel as AL points out above.

It's really not a big deal who it is since the whole mechanism needs to move out of town. For sure it will be somone who will take any directive, with a legal rationale conjured up by anyone in the inner circle, and drive forward whether it should be in DoD's purview or not.

[Box]

a female now will be able to jam women into combat roles and SOF units before the POTUS leaves office

[I am Al]

The E4 Mafia will be losing its most prominent member. Such a tragedy.

Seems harsh.

IIRC, Hagel grew up in small Nebraska towns. His dad died when he was a kid. Got drafted. Was an E-5 squad leader in Vietnam. A couple purple hearts. A CIB. Spent a while in a military hospital recouping. Got out after his time was up. Went to college on the GI bill. Started a couple companies that created maybe 5,000 or so permanent jobs and become a muti-millionaire along the way. Two terms as a U.S. Senator where he represented my state pretty well and seemed to be a strong supporter of the military.

Lousy Sec Def? Totally agree. And while the things he was able to accomplish in his life my not raise to the level of the things you've been able to accomplish, to label him as being a prominent member of the E4 Mafia seems overboard.

[The Reaper]

Anyone remember the Cornhusker Kickback?

The deciding vote.

TR

[I am Al]

Anyone remember the Cornhusker Kickback?

The deciding vote.

TR

Totally. Ben Nelson, a dem, did that in 2010. Hagel left the Senate in 2009 before there was ever a vote on ObamaCare.

I don't think anybody has to respect Hagel as a politician. I just don't see the point of diminishing his service by calling him a member of the "E4 Mafia". In a similar vein, Bob Kerry was a total whack job as a politician. I never voted for him, but no matter how goofy Kerry was, I still respected him for his Navy service (that and the whole Debra Winger thing).

I don't get cheapening Hagel's honorable service as a combat infantryman in 1967 because you think he's a dumb ass politician in 2014. If you think the guy is a dumb ass today, then call him out as a dumb ass today. What does his rank after he finished AIT 48 years ago have to do with it?


NOTE: I had to edit this some for clarity.

[PedOncoDoc]

I heard a good soundbyte on the news last evening about this situation:

It was something like, "President Obama can tolerate a lot of things - incompetence, laziness and deceipt, but he cannot stand criticism, that's why Hagel had to go."

[Richard]

Neither Hagel nor his associates had given any sign he was getting ready to leave the Pentagon after less than two years on the job.

Hagel conceded last week that the U.S. and its military is facing challenges well beyond ISIS, stretching from Iran to Russia. “If we’ve had such good policies over the years, then we probably wouldn’t be in this situation,” he told PBS’s Charlie Rose on Wednesday.

Two days later, Obama and Hagel decided it was time for the defense secretary to step down.

http://time.com/3602263/hagel-pentagon-retreat/?xid=newsletter-brief#3602263/hagel-pentagon-retreat/

And so it goes...

Richard

[MR2]

I heard a good soundbyte on the news last evening about this situation:

It was something like, "President Obama can tolerate a lot of things - incompetence, laziness and deceipt, but he cannot stand criticism, that's why Hagel had to go."

Neither Hagel nor his associates had given any sign he was getting ready to leave the Pentagon after less than two years on the job.

Hagel conceded last week that the U.S. and its military is facing challenges well beyond ISIS, stretching from Iran to Russia. “If we’ve had such good policies over the years, then we probably wouldn’t be in this situation,” he told PBS’s Charlie Rose on Wednesday.

Two days later, Obama and Hagel decided it was time for the defense secretary to step down.

http://time.com/3602263/hagel-pentagon-retreat/?xid=newsletter-brief#3602263/hagel-pentagon-retreat/

And so it goes...

Richard

Cause and effect - And so it goes...

[Dive08]

Foreign Policy reports Flournoy is out of the running. If I remember right she stepped down as USD for Policy to get more time for her personal life, makes sense she wouldnt want to go in for the job at the helm. Although quite qualified for the job, she's out and my money is going on the physicist. Hopefully he has more of a spine than I would imagine most other theoretical physicists have.

[Richard]

Sounds about right... ;)

http://www.duffelblog.com/2014/11/ashton-carter-secretary-defense-pentagon/

Richard

[Airbornelawyer]

Now it is being reported that much of the tension between Hagel and the White House was because he was too slow in providing the statutorily required certifications to release Gitmo detainees. Obama has long wanted to shut down the Gitmo detention facilities, and has been criticized from some of his supporters on the left for failing to effect this, but the law requires the SecDef to make a number of certifications before a detainee may be transferred.

The full list of certifications:
The certification described in this subsection is a written certification made by the Secretary of Defense, with the concurrence of the Secretary of State, that the government of the foreign country or the recognized leadership of the foreign entity to which the individual detained at Guantanamo is to be transferred--
(1) is not a designated state sponsor of terrorism or a designated foreign terrorist organization;
(2) maintains effective control over each detention facility in which an individual is to be detained if the individual is to be housed in a detention facility;
(3) is not, as of the date of the certification, facing a threat that is likely to substantially affect its ability to exercise control over the individual;
(4) has agreed to take effective steps to ensure that the individual cannot take action to threaten the United States, its citizens, or its allies in the future;
(5) has taken such steps as the Secretary determines are necessary to ensure that the individual cannot engage or reengage in any terrorist activity; and
(6) has agreed to share any information with the United States that--
-- (A) is related to the individual or any associates of the individual; and
-- (B) could affect the security of the United States, its citizens, or its allies.

[Badger52]

That's a fair amount of homework, not to mention the required coordination with the (skewed viewpoint) folks at Brandy. In other words, he might've actually been going about applying due diligence to his responsibility.

Damn pesky laws anyway.