Tag: Hagel
…The November intermediate election was a Republicans’ big win. For the first time since 2006 the GOP gained control of both chambers… It may be an exaggeration but the November 4 vote was viewed as a referendum that Obama lost. This is an undisputed fact. Chuck Hagel has joined the ranks of those who have lost faith in Obama. His resignation is another defeat of Obama in Congress… The Democrats called the election results «a personal defeat of Obama». The Hillary Clinton’s aides told her to keep away from the incumbent President. It means other officials may follow Hagel and resign soon. The number of Obama supporters in the administration may dwindle to unusually low numbers.
Former Nebraska Republican Senator Chuck Hagel had a tortuous path in becoming Secretary of Defense to succeed the consummate Democratic Party insider Leon Panetta in February 2013. Hagel, who had once referred to the political influence of the «Jewish Lobby» in Washington, faced an uphill confirmation battle in the U.S. Senate to win confirmation over the objections of erstwhile friends and political allies like Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham… Hagel was more in line with Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman General Martin Dempsey, who has argued that to defeat ISIL, the United States must reach at least a minimum accommodation with Damascus, as well as with Iran. At the time of Hagel’s resignation, there were credible reports that U.S. diplomats were preparing to return to Damascus to re-open the U.S. embassy. Such a development would serve as a slap in the faces of McCain and the neo-conservatives… The problem for Obama is that McCain as Senate Armed Service Committee chairman will constantly use the cable news networks to second-guess whoever becomes the next Defense Secretary…
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s surprise resignation — reportedly at the strong urging of the White House — will dominate Beltway news in the coming days. But perhaps the much more significant foreign-policy news came early Saturday morning.