"We’ve made mistakes. We will make more mistakes… One last point. Of all the opportunities my life has given me, and I have been blessed with so many, I am most proud of having once been a soldier." - Chuck Hagel | "The Pentagon has expressed deep concern about the US eventually losing its military technological superiority over rivals such as China and Russia, and is urging NATO states to develop innovative weapons in close cooperation to optimize military spending." - US may lose high-tech military superiority to China, Russia by The European Union Times | McCain to Kissinger protesters: 'Get out of here, you low-life scum' - USA TODAY
Obama’s Awkward Farewell to Hagel by Mark Thompson Thursday January 29 th , 2015 at 4:03 PM TIME 1 Share Wednesday afternoon marked another one of those painful spectacles, where someone being forced out of the national spotlight was forced to grin and bear it as the person responsible for forcing him out publicly sang his praises. This time it featured President Obama hailing the brief, two-year tenure of Chuck Hagel, his third defense secretary. Hagel—who will hang around the Pentagon for weeks until his successor, Ashton Carter, is confirmed—has spent recent days prowling the bowels of the Pentagon, thanking the unseen and unheralded for their work. Hagel has been saying goodbye to Pentagon workers in recent days. DoD photo While the two men haven’t spelled out precisely what went wrong, disagreements over policies involving Syria and the detainee camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are often cited . And Hagel’s body language since the Wh