Book publishers are probably lining up outside Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel’s home to sign a book deal, detailing his rough relationship with President Obama and the real reason he got fired.
During Tuesday’s news conference neither Obama nor Hagel addressed the reason for his departure. There’s been speculation that two key issues forcedHagel to resign: the ebola crisis and ISIS.
Hagel went against the President’s policy on ebola quarantines. Hagel required military personnel returning from aiding the outbreak in West Africa to comply with a 21 day quarantine. President Obama said science didn’t support such a quarantine and argued civilian volunteer health workers returning from Africa need not be quarantined. He asked states to follow his recommendation.
Hagel also didn’t see eye-to-eye with the President on how to deal with ISIS in Syria. In a blistering memo to National Security Adviser Susan Rice, Hagel wrote the U.S. needs “to have a sharper view of what to do about the Assad regime.”
You can bet Former Defense Secretaries Robert Gates and Leon Panetta will welcome Hagel on their publicity tour where they have been slamming President Obama.
Just last week Gates said "It was micromanagement that drove me crazy," at the Reagan National Defense Forum.
According to military.com, Gates claimed the White House National Security Council staff (NSC) inappropriately tried to make direct contact with the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), which apparently is a BIG no no.
"I told JSOC if they got a call from the White House you tell them to go to hell and call me," Gates said. The crowd broke out in applause.
At the same forum, Panetta blasted Obama for ruling out the use of ground combat troops to fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. "Never tell your enemy what the hell you're going to do," Panetta said.
These criticisms of the President’s foreign policy are well documented in both Gate’s and Panetta’s books. Expect Hagel to release a similar book illustrating Obama’s failure as commander-in-chief.
The only good news for Obama is that it will take a long time to get another Defense Secretary confirmed so Hagel will probably stay tight lipped until then. After all, he was Obama’s only republican cabinet member. Good luck getting a dem confirmed in the senate, which will soon be controlled by the GOP in January.
Jaclyn Cashman co-hosts “Morning Meeting” from 9am to noon on Boston Herald Radio. Follow her on twitter at @JaclynCashman.
Copyright © 2024 Jaclyn Cashman.
