Why President Obama Wants Chuck Hagel As U.S. Secretary Of Defense

President Obama and Chuck Hagel

Hagel Is Latest Sign Obama Could Limit Pentagon Power -- Kevin Baron, Foreign Policy

If reports that President Obama will pick Chuck Hagel to succeed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta are true, it will be one more sign that he may use his second term to rein in America’s global military presence after an expansion that dates back to September 11, 2001. Hagel’s views on the limits of American power support a defense retrenchment that seems increasingly likely.

Although no decision has yet been made as to the speed of withdrawal, the president has promised that the U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan will end by 2015.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon faces $60 billion in across-the-board cuts starting January 2, 2013, unless Congress and the president can avert the so-called fiscal cliff. And, even if they do reach a deal, all of Washington expects defense spending to take another hit, beyond the $487 billion, 10-year cut passed in last summer’s Budget Control Act.

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My Comment: The next U.S. Secretary of Defense will be remembered as the man who slashed and cut the Pentagon .... and I predict that Chuck Hagel will be that man.