Is Hagel’s firing over a bad fit or shift in focus?

It’s a surprise to see President Obama actually fire someone. But I have to worry that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s forced departure may signal further expansion of U.S. military involvement in Iraq and Syria.

Obama hardly ever gives anybody the boot, often sticking with aides and appointees long past their sell-by dates. Obama said Monday that Hagel “came to me” to discuss a possible departure, but multiple news reports quoted senior officials as saying he was forced out. Coming after last week’s in-your-face executive action on immigration, the move seemed to suggest that Obama’s patience, at this point in his tenure, no longer rivals that of Job.

That’s all to the good. Obama will accomplish more in his last two years if he is seen as taking the initiative rather than reacting to events — and if he has the right team in place.

From the start, Hagel, a two-term senator, seemed kind of wrong. He stumbled and fumbled through his confirmation hearings, despite the fact that he was among old friends: In the end, he won the votes of just four fellow Republicans.

Hagel’s chief recommendation for the job was his skepticism about George W. Bush’s war in Iraq. As early as 2005, Hagel was comparing Iraq to Vietnam — where he had served in combat as an enlisted man. In 2006, he wrote in The Washington Post that “there will be no victory or defeat for the United States in Iraq” and called for beginning a withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Was he equally skeptical about Barack Obama’s war in Iraq and Syria? Not if you judge by his public statements. Before Obama had even decided on his air-war strategy, which has already morphed into air-war-plus, Hagel said the Islamic State was “beyond anything that we’ve seen” and an “imminent threat to every interest we have.” The White House was not thrilled at the hyperbole.

If that was really Hagel’s view, however, at the Pentagon he did little to act on it. Unlike other recent wartime defense secretaries — Donald Rumsfeld leaps to mind — Hagel showed little interest in trying to micromanage strategy and tactics. He left that to the professionals — led by Joint Chiefs Chairman Martin Dempsey — and the White House.

Hagel’s original task, as defined by Obama, was to oversee the withdrawal of combat forces from Afghanistan and manage a rational shrinking of the Pentagon budget. That changed with the rise of the Islamic State and Obama’s decision to launch a new war.

Obama has already doubled his initial troop commitment to 3,000. U.S. and allied airstrikes have slowed, and in some places halted, Islamic State advances — at least in Iraq. But the terrorist militia continues to hold a vast swath of territory in Iraq and Syria, and military experts are virtually unanimous in saying that airstrikes alone cannot carry out Obama’s pledge to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the group and its purported “caliphate.”

Other elements of the president’s plan are not panning out. The Shiite-dominated Iraqi government has not reached out to Sunni tribal leaders and convinced them to turn their backs on the Islamic State. The Iraqi army has not magically been transformed into an effective fighting force. The “moderate” Syrian rebels who are supposed to serve as allied ground troops have not been trained or equipped; mostly they have been getting smashed between the Islamic State’s hammer and Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s anvil.

Hagel’s public statements may have been all over the map, but he has a demonstrated aversion to deploying U.S. combat troops without a clear mission or a clear path to victory. I accept that probably he was not the right person for the job. But it is essential, in my view, that his replacement have similar caution.

It is hard to imagine that the current strategy can possibly work. It is hard to see how the United States avoids becoming mired in Iraq’s sectarian struggles and Syria’s apocalyptic civil war. Dempsey and other military officials have already mused that if this plan fails, a new plan might require more troops.

I hope Hagel’s departure is more about rectifying a bad fit than about a fundamental shift in the nature of the job. I hope the president keeps this truth in mind: It’s easier to crank up a war than wind it down.

Eugene Robinson’s email address is eugenerobinson@washpost.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Opinion

toon
Editorial cartoons for Tuesday, April 23

A sketchy look at the news of the day.… Continue reading

Patricia Robles from Cazares Farms hands a bag to a patron at the Everett Farmers Market across from the Everett Station in Everett, Washington on Wednesday, June 14, 2023. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Editorial: EBT program a boon for kids’ nutrition this summer

SUN Bucks will make sure kids eat better when they’re not in school for a free or reduced-price meal.

Don’t penalize those without shelter

Of the approximately 650,000 people that meet Housing and Urban Development’s definition… Continue reading

Fossil fuels burdening us with climate change, plastic waste

I believe that we in the U.S. have little idea of what… Continue reading

Comment: We have bigger worries than TikTok alone

Our media illiteracy is a threat because we don’t understand how social media apps use their users.

Students make their way through a portion of a secure gate a fence at the front of Lakewood Elementary School on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. Fencing the entire campus is something that would hopefully be upgraded with fund from the levy. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Editorial: Levies in two north county districts deserve support

Lakewood School District is seeking approval of two levies. Fire District 21 seeks a levy increase.

Eco-nomics: What to do for Earth Day? Be a climate hero

Add the good you do as an individual to what others are doing and you will make a difference.

Comment: Setting record strraight on 3 climate activism myths

It’s not about kids throwing soup at artworks. It’s effective messaging on the need for climate action.

People gather in the shade during a community gathering to distribute food and resources in protest of Everett’s expanded “no sit, no lie” ordinance Sunday, May 14, 2023, at Clark Park in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Comment: The crime of homelessness

The Supreme Court hears a case that could allow cities to bar the homeless from sleeping in public.

toon
Editorial: A policy wonk’s fight for a climate we can live with

An Earth Day conversation with Paul Roberts on climate change, hope and commitment.

Snow dusts the treeline near Heather Lake Trailhead in the area of a disputed logging project on Tuesday, April 11, 2023, outside Verlot, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Editorial: Move ahead with state forests’ carbon credit sales

A judge clears a state program to set aside forestland and sell carbon credits for climate efforts.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.