More Commentary On Former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel's Remarks During His Tenure In President Obama's White House

U.S. President Barack Obama greets former U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel during a farewell ceremony at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Virginia. Yuri Gripas / Reuters

Dan Lamothe, Washington Post: Why former Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel’s coming out against the White House matters

When Chuck Hagel resigned as defense secretary last year, the narrative was clear: President Obama and he did not see eye-to-eye on how to prosecute the war against the Islamic State, so Hagel needed to go. White House officials, speaking anonymously, said at the time that the president had lost faith in Hagel’s ability to lead — a charge that Hagel’s advisers brushed aside.

Now, a little over a year later, Hagel is swinging back. In an interview with Foreign Policy magazine published Friday, he said he remains puzzled why White House officials tried to “destroy” him personally in his last days in office, adding that he was convinced the United States had no viable strategy in Syria and was particularly frustrated with National Security Adviser Susan Rice, who he said would hold meetings and focus on “nit-picky” details.

“I eventually got to the point where I told Susan Rice that I wasn’t going to spend more than two hours in these meetings,” Hagel told Foreign Policy. “Some of them would go four hours.”

Previous Post: Former U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel: White House Tried To 'Destroy Me'

WNU Editor: Here is another commentary on Chuck Hagel's remarks .... Chuck Hagel's Astonishing Admission on Syria (Micah Zenko, The Atlantic). As to what is my take on this story .... Chuck Hagel was an "underwhelming" Defense Secretary .... and could not get alone with President Obama's inner circle ... hence his firing. On a side note .... expect more "exposes" and "confessions" from other former administration officials when President Obama is no longer in the White House .... doubly so if the Republicans win the White House in 2016 resulting in many Democrats looking for work.

Former U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel: White House Tried To 'Destroy Me'

U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, August 21, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Yuri Gripas

Dan De Luce, Foreign Policy: Hagel: The White House Tried to ‘Destroy’ Me

In an exclusive interview, Chuck Hagel said the Obama administration micromanaged the Pentagon, stabbed him in the back on the way out -- and still has no strategy for fixing Syria.

Jet-lagged from a long overseas trip, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel had just sat down with his wife for a quiet dinner at an upscale Italian restaurant in northern Virginia when his phone rang. It was the White House on the line. President Barack Obama wanted to speak with him.

It was Aug. 30, 2013, and the U.S. military was poised for war. Obama had publicly warned Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad that his regime would face consequences if it crossed a “red line” by employing chemical weapons against its own people. Assad did it anyway, and Hagel had spent the day approving final plans for a barrage of Tomahawk cruise missile strikes against Damascus. U.S. naval destroyers were in the Mediterranean, awaiting orders to fire.

Instead, Obama told a stunned Hagel to stand down. Assad’s Aug. 21 chemical attack in a Damascus suburb had killed hundreds of civilians, but the president said the United States wasn’t going to take any military action against the Syrian government. The president had decided to ignore his own red line — a decision, Hagel believes, that dealt a severe blow to the credibility of both Obama and the United States.

WNU Editor: As a former U.S. Senate Republican .... how did he think he was going to be treated by a Democrat White House and administration who were in disagreement with his views?