Breaking: WH Officials Say President Obama Has Asked Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to Step Down

[karynnj]

46. In that case, wouldn't the target have been John Kerry, not Hagel

Kerry was involved in opening the channel in Oman before he was SoS and he has been Obama's lead on the negotiations. In addition, the same RW Likud apologists have been extremely angry that Kerry has actually not toed the lines set by Netanyahu on the Palestinian/Israeli mess.

I also don't see the shift in the administration's policy that you speak of -- they are still following what Obama laid out last June. Obama has - to this point - rejected the US militarily acting against Syria itself --- which is what countries like Turkey, the Gulf States, and Saudia Arabia have long argued for. It is not just those countries - but US powers like the NYT and the WP and the previous Secretary of State that have argued for that.

I suspect that the reason might be as simple as burn out on the part of Hagel. Remember when the NYT floated the issue of problems in the National Security team, the administration completely and strongly backed John Kerry, but there was not a whole lot said about Hagel. (Not to mention, the China/US pact was essentially done - waiting for the China trip to be announced. Kerry had a key role in what will likely be the most significant foreign policy accomplishment of Obama's Presidency - especially if, as Kerry long spoke of, if their work on this major issue facilitates working on other problems.)