Kathianne
12-18-2015, 09:09 PM
Ok, not my favorite guy, but he really is echoing, (even more loudly), what other Obama DOD Secretaries have said:
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/18/hagel-the-white-house-tried-to-destroy-me/?wp_login_redirect=0
EXCLUSIVE (http://foreignpolicy.com/category/exclusive/) Hagel: The White House Tried to ‘Destroy’ Me (http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/18/hagel-the-white-house-tried-to-destroy-me/)
In an exclusive interview, Chuck Hagel said the Obama administration micromanaged the Pentagon, stabbed him in the back on the way out — and still has no strategy for fixing Syria.
...
Some commentary based upon the above:
http://hotair.com/archives/2015/12/18/hagel-i-greenlit-strikes-on-syria-after-red-line-crossed-but-obama-overrode-me/
...In the days and months afterward, Hagel’s counterparts around the world told him their confidence in Washington had been shaken over Obama’s suddenabout-face (https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/08/31/statement-president-syria). And the former defense secretary said he still hears complaints to this day from foreign leaders.“A president’s word is a big thing, and when the president says things, that’s a big deal,” he said.
...
Hagel’s predecessors, Gates and Panetta, as well as Michèle Flournoy, the former No. 3 official at the Pentagon, have all criticized (http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/08/top-rumored-pentagon-nominee-explains-why-pentagon-job-stinks/) the White House’s centralized decision-making and interference with the workings of the Defense Department.
Hagel said the politically motivated micromanagement, combined with a mushrooming bureaucracy (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/how-the-obama-white-house-runs-foreign-policy/2015/08/04/2befb960-2fd7-11e5-8353-1215475949f4_story.html) at the National Security Council, raises a real risk for the executive branch — potentially undercutting the proper functioning of the Pentagon and other cabinet offices.
“There is a danger in all of this,” he said. “This is about governance; this isn’t about political optics. It’s about making the country run and function, and trying to stay ahead of the dangers and the threats you see coming.”
...
Guantánamo wars
Apart from his impatience with the administration’s drift over Syria, Hagel said some of his biggest clashes with the White House came over the controversialdetention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
Under a law adopted by Congress, Hagel, as defense secretary, had the ultimate responsibility for approving the transfer of inmates to other countries. And it meant he would bear the blame if a released detainee later took up arms against the United States.
The White House, trying to fulfill Obama’s promise (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/30/us/hagel-sets-his-own-timetable-on-deciding-guantanamo-transfers.html) to close the facility that has been condemned by human rights groups as a legal black hole, pressed Hagel to approve transferring inmates to other countries.
But Hagel often refused or delayed signing off on dozens of transfers when he judged the security risk too high, often based on advice inside the Defense Department.
The White House grew deeply frustrated with Hagel over the delays.
“It got pretty bad, pretty brutal,” Hagel said. “I’d get the hell beat out of me all the time on this at the White House. “
...
Hagel: I greenlit strikes on Syria after “red line” crossed, but Obama overrode me
POSTED AT 12:06 PM ON DECEMBER 18, 2015 BY ED MORRISSEY
Many questioned Barack Obama’s judgment when he backed away from his own “red line” in Syria, but Chuck Hagel tells Foreign Policy in an exclusive interview (http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/18/hagel-the-white-house-tried-to-destroy-me/) that it was actually worse than that. Obama lost his nerve, Hagel alleges, calling off promised strikes on Syria after Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons. Hagel also says that Obama’s team then stabbed him in the back as he was heading for the exits, and tried to “destroy me”:
...
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/18/hagel-the-white-house-tried-to-destroy-me/?wp_login_redirect=0
EXCLUSIVE (http://foreignpolicy.com/category/exclusive/) Hagel: The White House Tried to ‘Destroy’ Me (http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/18/hagel-the-white-house-tried-to-destroy-me/)
In an exclusive interview, Chuck Hagel said the Obama administration micromanaged the Pentagon, stabbed him in the back on the way out — and still has no strategy for fixing Syria.
...
Some commentary based upon the above:
http://hotair.com/archives/2015/12/18/hagel-i-greenlit-strikes-on-syria-after-red-line-crossed-but-obama-overrode-me/
...In the days and months afterward, Hagel’s counterparts around the world told him their confidence in Washington had been shaken over Obama’s suddenabout-face (https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/08/31/statement-president-syria). And the former defense secretary said he still hears complaints to this day from foreign leaders.“A president’s word is a big thing, and when the president says things, that’s a big deal,” he said.
...
Hagel’s predecessors, Gates and Panetta, as well as Michèle Flournoy, the former No. 3 official at the Pentagon, have all criticized (http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/08/top-rumored-pentagon-nominee-explains-why-pentagon-job-stinks/) the White House’s centralized decision-making and interference with the workings of the Defense Department.
Hagel said the politically motivated micromanagement, combined with a mushrooming bureaucracy (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/how-the-obama-white-house-runs-foreign-policy/2015/08/04/2befb960-2fd7-11e5-8353-1215475949f4_story.html) at the National Security Council, raises a real risk for the executive branch — potentially undercutting the proper functioning of the Pentagon and other cabinet offices.
“There is a danger in all of this,” he said. “This is about governance; this isn’t about political optics. It’s about making the country run and function, and trying to stay ahead of the dangers and the threats you see coming.”
...
Guantánamo wars
Apart from his impatience with the administration’s drift over Syria, Hagel said some of his biggest clashes with the White House came over the controversialdetention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
Under a law adopted by Congress, Hagel, as defense secretary, had the ultimate responsibility for approving the transfer of inmates to other countries. And it meant he would bear the blame if a released detainee later took up arms against the United States.
The White House, trying to fulfill Obama’s promise (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/30/us/hagel-sets-his-own-timetable-on-deciding-guantanamo-transfers.html) to close the facility that has been condemned by human rights groups as a legal black hole, pressed Hagel to approve transferring inmates to other countries.
But Hagel often refused or delayed signing off on dozens of transfers when he judged the security risk too high, often based on advice inside the Defense Department.
The White House grew deeply frustrated with Hagel over the delays.
“It got pretty bad, pretty brutal,” Hagel said. “I’d get the hell beat out of me all the time on this at the White House. “
...
Hagel: I greenlit strikes on Syria after “red line” crossed, but Obama overrode me
POSTED AT 12:06 PM ON DECEMBER 18, 2015 BY ED MORRISSEY
Many questioned Barack Obama’s judgment when he backed away from his own “red line” in Syria, but Chuck Hagel tells Foreign Policy in an exclusive interview (http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/12/18/hagel-the-white-house-tried-to-destroy-me/) that it was actually worse than that. Obama lost his nerve, Hagel alleges, calling off promised strikes on Syria after Bashar al-Assad’s use of chemical weapons. Hagel also says that Obama’s team then stabbed him in the back as he was heading for the exits, and tried to “destroy me”:
...