Obama's Cabinet - Term 2

[HairOfTheDog]

I think Hagel was fired because he said things Obama didn't want to hear. He does have a history of ignoring facts and Congress.

I think you're right. Hagel wasn't technically 'fired'. But (like Bernanke), he was pretty much fired.

Here's what David Rothkopf had to say about Hagel's departure in a CNN op ed piece today:
Yes, things have been coming to a head with Hagel for a while. There was reportedly a tough memo he wrote to national security adviser Susan Rice taking issue with the administration's handling of the crisis in Syria. The details have yet to be leaked, but apparently it caused a firestorm in the White House.

In addition, remarks by Hagel and senior military officials such as Gen. Martin Dempsey on how to fight ISIS have revealed gaps between the White House and Pentagon thinking that have frustrated officials close to Obama.

In fact, it is not passivity or weakness that some thought Hagel would bring to the job that have caused his downfall. Rather it was in part caused by his toughness and refusal to be just one more comfortable insider from the Senate club that is all Obama knew of Washington before he took office as President.

Indeed, the real problem that brought down Hagel had little to do with Hagel at all. It had to do with the fact that since Rice took over as national security adviser, the Obama administration has been buffeted by a stunning series of foreign policy missteps and challenges that have shaken confidence in the President at home and abroad.

These include growing chaos in the wake of the intervention in Libya, the consequences of pulling out too quickly in Iraq, compounded by the consequences of failing to take effective action of any sort in Syria, the resultant rise of ISIS, the mishandling of the National Security Agency revelations in ways that alienated our allies, the weak response to the Crimean adventure of Vladimir Putin and a host of related problems.

None of these can be traced to Hagel. Rather they are linked to a broken national security process, a President who has become reactive -- not proactive -- and defensive, who is more tactical than strategic and who, unlike past presidents serving a second term, has shown a resistance to growing in office as a statesman.

Full piece: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/24/opinio...?hpt=hp_t5

I don't agree with every example Rothkopf uses to support his theory as to why Hagel is out on his ass, but I think his theory is correct.