Max Boot (my emphasis in red):
"The immediate question is whether Obama will be able to stomach a stronger personality in the secretary of defense job–someone like Bob Gates or Leon Panetta. If so, Michele Flournoy or Ash Carter, both of whom served at the Pentagon earlier in the Obama administration, could fill the job description. But if Obama were truly intent on a radical break with some of his failed policies he would opt for a true outsider like Joe Lieberman . . . "
and:
"Regardless of who fills the job at the Pentagon–or for that matter at
State–the reality remains that in this administration all critical
decisions are made in the White House by the president with a handful of
loyalists who have little independent standing, knowledge, or
credibility in national-security affairs. This has been a problem ever
since the raid to kill Osama bin Laden, the point at which Obama stopped
listening to independent advice and started acting on his own
ideological worldview predicated on downsizing the American armed forces
and retreating from the world.
If this were a parliamentary system, Obama would long ago have lost a
vote of “no confidence” and been forced to step down. But because it’s a
presidential system he will remain in power two more years. The firing
of Hagel will be a positive step forward only if it signals a complete
rethink of the president’s foreign policy a la Carter’s conversion to
become a born-again hawk after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and
the Iranian hostage crisis.
The test of that will be to see how Obama deals with Iran now that
nuclear talks have reached an impasse after a year. Will Obama allow the
mullahs to drag out negotiations indefinitely while continuing to enjoy
sanctions relief? Or will he clamp down with extra-tough sanctions and
implement a plan to roll back Iran’s power grab in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon,
and Yemen? My bet is that not much has changed in the president’s
thinking beyond his desire to see a new, more credible face at the
Pentagon, but I’m happy to be proved wrong."
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