Secretary Hagel resigning today.

[merrily]

http://abc11.com/politics/abc-news-defense-secretary-hagel-resigning-from-obama-cabinet-today/408712/

[BlueCaliDem]

1. Just hearing on Diaz-Balart that Hagel has been asked to resign.

The White House is saying that he "wasn't up to the job". This isn't a voluntary resignation.

[merrily]

3. I heard that, too. No name within the White House was given.

[merrily]

7. Politico asked in January 2013: Is Hagel up to the job? (same wording!)

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/chuck-hagel-resume-secretary-of-defense-86970.html

Hagel was confirmed in February 2013.

[bigwillq]

2. Good (nt)

[Mass]

4. Why? Hagel was probably the most reluctant to go to war among the whole national security team.

[ctaylors6]

14. Agreed. Supposed to manage combat withdrawal

From the NY Times:
"The officials described Mr. Obama’s decision to remove Mr. Hagel, 68, as a recognition that the threat from the Islamic State would require a different kind of skills than those that Mr. Hagel was brought on to employ. A Republican with military experience who was skeptical about the Iraq war, Mr. Hagel came in to manage the Afghanistan combat withdrawal and the shrinking Pentagon budget in the era of budget sequestration."

[RiverLover]

15. Does this mean Obama is a Neocon war hawk? ~nt

[Bluenorthwest]

18. It's odd that he has that reputation when he voted Yes on every war he was ever asked to fund

Sure he kvetched about it, but then he said 'Yes, Mr Bush' every time. Each time. It's just funny that his Yes vote makes him a dove in some eyes while the Yes vote of others is seen as definitive proof of hawkishness. Not sure how these double standards work. Double standards disturb me and somehow when they are applied, a Republican is always involved.

[librechik]

48. it's not like Obama really chooses. Grow up.

Just like us, they offer him two unacceptable choices, and threaten him with "death" if he doesn't pick the right one.

The MIC rues. Not us or are elected representatives. THAT"S the problem we have to solve. Not voting more.

[pinboy3niner]

5. Hagel will stay on until the Senate confirms a replacement

In other words, indefinitely...

[Mass]

6. Says whom?

Given the leaks at the White House that he was not up to the job (once again, the WH staff acts like morons and thinks anonymous leaks are the way to go. No surprise there), it would be an awkward situation.

This said, I hate this White House's habit to diminish people. There is no reason to humiliate him now that he has accepted to leave.

[pinboy3niner]

16. CNN reported WH told them that about Hagel staying on until replacement is confirmed

My "indefinitely" was a joke based on GOP talk of not confirming any nominees in reaction to President Obama's immigration action. In reality, even if they follow that plan a nominee to replace Hagel likely wouldn't be held up because it concerns national security.

[Mass]

17. They probably did not know what they were reporting, as usual

Their is no way that Hagel stays. The WH has leaked that he was asked to resigned, that they and the DoD have lost confidence in him. So, he is certainly not going to stay.

[pinboy3niner]

19. AP is reporting the same thing as CNN...

A senior defense official said that Hagel submitted his resignation letter to Obama on Monday morning and the president accepted it. Hagel, 68, agreed to remain in office until his successor is confirmed by the Senate, the official said.

http://news.yahoo.com/ap-source-hagel-resigning-defense-secretary-142227543.html

[Mass]

20. We' ll know soon, but it would be extremely awkward and stupid.

to to have made all these statements and ask him to stay.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

30. Holder, now Hagel. Shouldn't they have replacements already in mind before they announce?

[LawDeeDah]

32. You don't know the story, maybe Hagel deserves diminishment.

Always easier to blame the WH tho. The Road Most Travelled.

[merrily]

46. I don't get it. Obama has two months to name someone before Republicans take over and

Reid made the rule that confirmation takes only a simple majority. Right?

[Triana]

31. BBC...

Mr Hagel, 68, a Vietnam war veteran and former senator, became defence secretary in 2013.

He is reportedly stepping down amid a shift in US military strategy to fight Islamic State (IS), the New York Times first reported.

He is expected to stay on as secretary until his successor is confirmed.

Mr Obama is expected to announce his resignation later on Monday morning.

An unnamed official told the Associated Press news agency that Mr Hagel and Mr Obama both "determined that it was time for new leadership in the Pentagon" and had been discussing the move for weeks.

THE REST:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-30182410

[Mass]

35. I see. In this case, Obama has somebody he needs to fire in the WH. I do not know who gave

the anonymous quotes assailing Hagel, but if he is expected to stay for at least a couple months, this is gross incompetence.

[jwirr]

41. I suspect that Hagel was very against extending the war against ISIS. And he may have made it

clear in the meeting they were having. May even have told them he would NOT agree to it. Unfortunately this would not be the first time a president fired someone because they did not want to do what he said. Harry S. Truman.

[pinboy3niner]

50. I think their biggest differences were over Syria policy

Hagel wanted to be tougher, even was willing to consider a potential need for U.S. troops on the ground, at least to a limited extent.

Whatever problem those diverging views were, Hagel went farther by criticizing the policy publicly, suggesting it was incoherent. The public part is what struck me as problematic for the administration. And in thanking Hagel today, President Obama said he appreciated the honest advice he got from Hagel behind closed doors at the White House. Those words seemed very carefully chosen, imo.

[jwirr]

53. Interesting. Sounds reasonable.

[eppur_se_muova]

8. US defence secretary Chuck Hagel 'to step down' (BBC)

Chuck Hagel will resign as US defence secretary after a request from President Barack Obama to step down, US media report.

Mr Hagel, 68, a Vietnam war veteran and former senator, became defence secretary in 2013.

He is reportedly stepping down amid a shift in US military strategy to fight Islamic State (IS), the New York Times first reported.

Mr Hagel was a harsh critic of the handling of the Iraq war.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-30182410

[LawDeeDah]

33. Usually it's a 'spend time with my family' thing, asked to step down

is pretty serious.

I wonder what the whole story is. Hopefully we find out, but if push comes to shove I will believe the President is making the right decision. Maybe Hagel was playing behind the President's back like Petraeus and Hillary were.

[Ykcutnek]

39. Mhm. This White House doesn't fire people easily.

Hagel must have majorly fucked up.

[eppur_se_muova]

9. Hagel Said to Be Stepping Down as Defense Chief Under Pressure (NYT)

By HELENE COOPER
NOV. 24, 2014

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is stepping down under pressure, the first cabinet-level casualty of the collapse of President Obama’s Democratic majority in the Senate and the struggles of his national security team amid an onslaught of global crises.

The president, who is expected to announce Mr. Hagel’s resignation in a Rose Garden appearance on Monday, made the decision to ask his defense secretary — the sole Republican on his national security team — to step down last Friday after a series of meetings over the past two weeks, senior administration officials said.

The officials described Mr. Obama’s decision to remove Mr. Hagel, 68, as a recognition that the threat from the Islamic State would require a different kind of skills than those that Mr. Hagel was brought on to employ. A Republican with military experience who was skeptical about the Iraq war, Mr. Hagel came in to manage the Afghanistan combat withdrawal and the shrinking Pentagon budget in the era of budget sequestration.

But now “the next couple of years will demand a different kind of focus,” one administration official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. He insisted that Mr. Hagel was not fired, saying that he initiated discussions about his future two weeks ago with the president, and that the two men mutually agreed that it was time for him to leave.
***
more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/25/us/hagel-said-to-be-stepping-down-as-defense-chief-under-pressure.html?module=Notification&version=BreakingNews&region=FixedTop&action=Click&contentCollection=BreakingNews&contentID=23585540&pgtype=Homepage&_r=1

[marmar]

10. I worry that a more hawkish defense policy is coming.

[Mass]

13. I worry too. I worry mostly because the White House is ridiculously busy humiliating him,

which probably means that there was a very serious disagreement and that the White House is afraid he will be outspoken about that.

[Orsino]

11. If a replacement is filibustered, the prez should call off our foreign wars.

If a replacement is not filibustered, the president should still call off our foreign wars.

[merrily]

26. If that were Obama's plan, he would not have needed Hagel's resignation.

[City Lights]

12. Just heard this on WGN. nt

[mmonk]

21. The war drums are beating.

[merrily]

23. Have they ever really stopped since 911?

[mmonk]

34. Nope. Just sick of it all.

[samsingh]

22. good

[VA_Jill]

24. My son the sergeant tells me

that Hagel was the *only* Defense Secretary who was respected by the enlisted troops during his entire period of service in the military, which stretches from 1995. The rest of them were either regarded with scorn or downright hated. What does THAT tell you?

[merrily]

27. from 1995? Hagel served in the military from 1967-68 and as Secretary of Defense from 2013.

I must be missing your meaning.

On edit. I get it now. According to your son, since 1995, when your son starting serving in the military, Hagel is the only Secretary of Defense the troops have respected.

[VA_Jill]

28. My SON'S

period of service stretches from 1995. Sorry if that wasn't clear to you. And the troops respected Hagel because they felt he was one of *them* and he knew where they were coming from and who was doing the dirty work.

[merrily]

29. Yeah, I got it after a minute. Edited my post.

[jwirr]

42. That Obama may be about to lose his support from the troops?

[VA_Jill]

58. Nah

They will just go back to not respecting the Sec. of Defense and/or not caring. (My son was in Iraq when Rumsfeld was called out by a member of the Tennessee National Guard and made his famous "You go to war with the army you have" comment that got him out of a job. We were proud it was a Tennessee boy!)

[jwirr]

59. Okay, thank you for the definition. Obama had better think about who he puts in. Maybe someone

who knows the that war is not supposed to last forever and yet knows how to lead in a war. I think for the most part Hagel knows the first but maybe was unwilling to be the one to do the last. He hated the first Iraq war. Kind of like saying "Hell no I will not go".

[Octafish]

25. Bring back a Seckertery who knows how to really kill for oil.

Money trumps peace and a boot on your face to boot forever.

[xiamiam]

36. probably directly related to the news this am from democracy now

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/11/24/after_vowing_to_end_combat_mission

snip
President Obama has secretly extended the U.S. role in Afghanistan despite earlier promises to wind down America’s longest war. According to the New York Times, Obama has signed a classified order that ensures U.S. troops will have a direct role in fighting. In addition, the order reportedly enables American jets, bombers and drones to bolster Afghan troops on combat missions. And, under certain circumstances, it would apparently authorize U.S. air-strikes to support Afghan military operations throughout the country. The decision contradicts Obama’s earlier announcement that the U.S. military would have no combat role in Afghanistan next year. Afghanistan’s new president Ashraf Ghani has also backed an expanded U.S. military role. Ghani, who took office in September, has also reportedly lifted limits on U.S. airstrikes and joint raids that his predecessor Hamid Karzai had put in place. We go to Kabul to speak with Dr. Hakim, a peace activist and physician who has provided humanitarian relief in Afghanistan for the last decade. We are also joined by Kathy Kelly of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, who has just returned from Afghanistan.

[mmonk]

37. Probably.

[KoKo]

45. I thought same thing when this was announced Friday & posted here on DU...

and since the announcement of Hagel's resigning said discussions had been going on with him for weeks it would fit the time frame of the "Secret Agreement." Could mean that Hagel was not in favor of escalation in Afghanistan and the disagreements couldn't be overcome. Interesting also that they may have known that Repubs would win the Senate so they would have to deal with McCain/Graham having the power to push more aggressive action. Or, it could be they were going to do the escalation, anyway, no matter who won the Senate and didn't want it to get out before the election.

Not good, whatever the truth of it is, though, imho.

[2banon]

47. There you have it then..

[Ykcutnek]

38. This White House doesn't fire people easily, so he must've deserved it. nt

[kelliekat44]

40. "He wasn't up for the job" What Republican is ???

His confirmation hearing made that clear.

[TheNutcracker]

43. Problems don't appear any more to be dem or repub. It's more like neocon and wall street parties

and Obama is a member of both, by his actions on war and money. After all, Obama had well enough evidence to prosecute the banks according to the new evidence, and lied that he did not have it. I don't like this at all. Hagel knows the loss of wars that should not be fought.

[ucrdem]

44. Looks like Hagel wanted to take a harder line against Assad:

per NPR:

Tom says Hagel disagreed with the White House because he wanted to take a harder line against the regime of Bashar Assad in Syria. But the White House was resistant to that kind of strategy.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/11/24/366310360/defense-secretary-hagel-said-to-be-stepping-down

In that case, while I like Hagel personally and his work implementing a smaller-footprint Pentagon seemed good, this might be for the best.

[merrily]

57. Maybe not.

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/11/hagel-assad-isis-regime-change-syria.html#

Seems he thought there was lack of focus.

[librechik]

49. I wonder who leaked the changes in Afghanistan policy over the weekend?

That was a mess for Obama.

[merrily]

51. Most transparent administration ever!

Did you watch the resignation speech? I thought both Obama and Biden looked grim or pissed off.

[LittleBlue]

52. This is terrible

For all his faults, he was a force for peace.

The WaPo reporting Obama wants a warmonger. F***!

[TwilightGardener]

54. Shitty thing for Obama to do. He's lost me now.

Usually you have to screw up to be asked for your resignation. What did Hagel screw up? Reconfiguring and revamping the troubled nuclear forces? Finding troops that were exposed to chem weapons so they can get treatment? Opening up Vietnam records to find those who were given bad discharges because of undiagnosed PTSD? These were all things Hagel did. He looked out for his people. I really don't understand this. I just don't. Obama was very slow to get rid of ACTUAL screwer-uppers like Sebelius and (hate to say it) Shinseki.

[Tatiana]

55. I don't see this as a positive sign.

For a Republican, Hagel seemed to be closer to the Eisenhower model than Bush the Second.

I'd like to know where the parties differed on strategy. I suppose if the administration takes a more hawkish turn, then we'll have our answer.

[Dawson Leery]

56. Damn it! It is far past time that American allies

with the pro-west Kurds against ISIS. Enough appeasing Turkey!!! The cold war ended 25 years ago and there is no need to keep Turkey close anymore.