So far, he hasn't, unless you are inclined to believe McCain's bullshit.

But, right now, Hagel just might be the one with a knife buried in his back.

I don't have a good understanding of why Hagle was forced out, but I hope it was not to appease the "combat troops on the ground" crowd. That's my primary concern.

and best to find someone else.

They could have just let him resign without leaking that.

I believe it. I watched the speeches today and saw how Obama and Biden behaved.

I know that Politico had said in January 2013, when Hagel was nominated, that Hagel was not up to the job, but I don't know that Politico was the only source reporting that leak today. A lot of sources were reported it today.

If you don't believe it, we differ.

But behind the scenes, the departure appeared to be less rosy. Senior defense officials told NBC News Monday that Hagel was forced to resign. Those officials said the White House lost confidence in the former Nebraska senator to carry out his role at the Pentagon.

According to one senior official, “He wasn’t up to the job.”

if Hagel doesnt do it he will be the first

The administration's Syria policy is mess. That said, the situation over there is extremely fucked up. But going to war to overthrow Assad is not only stupid, it's criminal.

White House seems to be the scenario. There was a story a while back about Susan Rice and her dislike of Hagel. Hagel is not a fan of Israel and this apparently pissed off AIPAC supporters inside the White House and the rest is History. Must be a bitch for John Kerry at State with all this shit going on. Looking for Kerry to bail after the first of the year.

to be defense sec .

hagel was least popular among the right wing and people who support israel.

My bigger point is why in gods fucking name do Dems appoint repubs, insane

trying to make something which wasn't much and selling books.

panetta is a different case though and he is the one who is a democrat. in his case i think it was about helping hillary's likely run for president.

Panetta is a Democrat, but he used to be a Republican.

and he had positive words also.

But, here's the thing: There was a tradition that you do not publicly criticize the President you served while he is still in office. And Gates and Panetta both violated that tradition.

He was a soldier's soldier. He was no Rumsfeld type.

What did I miss?

even if it is a relatively decent one like Hagel

Then when you see ANOTHER con leaving this WH under pressure you just assume they are gonna write that book, hell even some of Obama's democratic buddies attacked him when they left.

that suggested he mismanaged the Pentagon, either policy or personnel. Instead, I see nasty whispering and insults about him from "administration officials". So who can really blame him if he wants to speak up for himself?

logical. There has to be more here. And if there isn't, then shame on the Obama administration.

Loyalty goes both ways and here, the WH went out of their way to attack and humiliate Hagel, saying he was not up to the task, that they had lost trust in him. Given that his departure was already assured, this was totally unnecessary, and clearly Biden knew that. He was clearly unhappy.

Obviously, Obama has every right to ask Hagel to leave, but the way the WH is managed is problematic. We do not need people to leak anonymously. If you have something to say, say it in front of the camera. F*ck the WH (and this is not about Hagel, but about everybody).

Note: I know Obama did not leak, but clearly, nobody in the WH pushed back either, which means he was not too bothered by the leak (except if he was uninformed, once again).

hugs like that aren't staged.

on until someone is confirmed.

on both sides of the aisle. It appears that Hagel being a military man wants to ramp it up, much like Panetta said he wanted to, whereas PBO as CiC wants to take a calmer approach. Turns out Obama was right before and I'm 100% confident he's right now.

my guess.