In a shocking interview in Foreign Policy Magazine, former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel accused White House officials of trying to “destroy” him personally in his last days in office. The comments have sent a stream of commentary across Washington and suggest a further erosion of the President’s legacy on foreign policy.
Hagel resigned in late 2014 after he took issue with the administration’s decision-making process, and especially President Obama’s decision not to punish Syria for its use of chemical weapons, ordering the military to stand down on August 30, 2013. This came in the wake of the President’s declaration that the use of chemical weapons would be a “red line.” In Hagel’s view, he told Foreign Policy, “A president’s word is a big thing, and when the president says things, that’s a big deal.” Hagel’s critique of the decision-making process was covered in an earlier post.




















