When U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced his resignation earlier today, it seemed that few Washington insiders were surprised. He reportedly had been dissatisfied with his job heading up the Pentagon and admitted that this decision was a mutual one made after only two years on the job. It had originally been Hagel's job to help guide our troops home after a 13-year war and to help our military to make as smooth a transition as possible. Hagel did accomplish that, but he seemed to see little hope of being able to do much else under the current administration.
President Barack Obama has readily admitted that change is necessary and feels that putting a new person into the official role of Defense secretary might be a good move.
U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., spoke earlier today about Hagel's frustration and how that did not mean he was no longer invested in his job, but instead felt that his options for action were extremely limited:
"Chuck and I have worked well together, and we have often seen eye to eye on our biggest national security challenges — ISIS, the conflict in Syria, the war in Afghanistan, a rising China and most of all, sequestration. I know that Chuck was frustrated with aspects of the administration's national security policy and decision-making process. His predecessors have spoken about the excessive micro-management they faced from the White House and how that made it more difficult to do their jobs successfully. Chuck's situation was no different.
"I hope the president will nominate a secretary of defense with the strength of character, judgment and independence that Bob Gates, Leon Panetta and Chuck Hagel all exhibited at their best. But ultimately, the [resident needs to realize that the real source of his current failures on national security more often lie with his administration's misguided policies and the role played by his White House in devising and implementing them. That is the real change we need right now," said McCain to Fox News.
Do you agree that the real changes need to be made in the upper offices rather than with someone like Hagel whose hands were ultimately tied by the higher-ups? Is McCain on to something here? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.
