Is Hagel's resignation a first sign of the administration's implosion?
When, in extemporaneous remarks, Obama told reporters that it was America's policy to "shrink" ISIS down into a "manageable problem," it was Hagel who was tapped to clean up those comments. Speaking with CNN reporter Jim Sciutto before an audience of students at the U.S. Naval War College, Hagel insisted that America should dismiss Obama's off-the-cuff statements and focus only on what he said in his prepared remarks. "No, it's not contain," Hagel said of America's policy toward ISIS. "It's exactly what the president said: 'Degrade and destroy.'"
Hagel, the thankless janitor who spent his tenure either cleaning up after Obama's controversial asides or trying to make sense of the White House's conflictual approach to foreign affairs, got his reward this week. For Hagel's part, however, he does not seem prepared to allow the administration to frame him as the problematic element in his relationship with the president. A "senior defense official" told CBS reporter David Martin that Hagel "was fed up with micromanagement from the White House."
Expect this back and forth in the press to continue, and likely to get worse in the coming week.Also read:
Hagel's Brief Tenure, Abrupt Exit Unique for Cabinet Member From 'Other Party'
Chuck Hagel Is Out As Defense Secretary, So You Know What That Means
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