Hagel’s Side of the Story

“Two months before he was pushed out as defense secretary, Chuck Hagel penned a private letter to the White House, arguing for new measures to rein in Russian President Vladimir Putin and greater efforts to reassure anxious European allies,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Shortly after the September letter, he wrote another memo calling for the administration to clarify its approach to the conflict in Syria. The two messages capped a year of frustrations for Mr. Hagel, who repeatedly found fault with what he saw as indecisiveness by the White House National Security Council.”

Said one Hagel confidante: “One of the things that Hagel values most is clarity. That’s not something that this White House has always done well.”