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| Hagel Defends Bergdahl Trade Before House Panel | |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| WASHINGTON — He wrote almost every word of his opening statement himself. He slashed suggestions from his speechwriters and replaced them with his own blocks of paragraphs. By Monday night, he was five drafts into his planned presentation, aides said. | |
| Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is appearing before the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, the first high-level Obama administration official to face Congress in a public hearing about a deal that has raised bipartisan ire. But if Mr. Hagel was unprepared for his bruising confirmation hearing last year, he seemed determined that this time round — once again facing a hostile panel of his former colleagues — he would be ready to forcefully defend the swap of five Taliban detainees for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl. After all, it is a deal he personally authorized. | |
| For Mr. Hagel, who often seems tentative or unsure of himself in public, this is his moment of either redemption or political perdition. | For Mr. Hagel, who often seems tentative or unsure of himself in public, this is his moment of either redemption or political perdition. |
| On Wednesday, his role is not so much to parrot administration talking points but instead to walk through his own thinking and defend his decision. A two-time Purple Heart recipient for wounds sustained as an enlisted soldier during the worst of the Vietnam War, Mr. Hagel is more sure-footed when speaking about the men and women under his command than when he has to talk about administration policy. | |
| “As a combat infantryman and soldier himself, he well understands the importance of the leave-no-soldier-behind principle,” Rear Adm. John F. Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said before the hearing. “I think in ways different from typical posture and budget hearings, this one is more personal to him. This isn’t an abstract principle to him. He lived it.” | |
| Speaking to aides in the 10 days since Sergeant Bergdahl was released, Mr. Hagel has often referred to his time in Vietnam, where he and his brother, Tom, who often “walked point” — at the front of foot patrols — and other members of his platoon had to come to the aid of young soldiers who found themselves in trouble because of reckless actions. “There were times that they had to go and rescue soldiers who found themselves in harm’s way because of their own decisions,” one senior military official said. “The way he described it was, ‘That’s just what we do.’ ” | Speaking to aides in the 10 days since Sergeant Bergdahl was released, Mr. Hagel has often referred to his time in Vietnam, where he and his brother, Tom, who often “walked point” — at the front of foot patrols — and other members of his platoon had to come to the aid of young soldiers who found themselves in trouble because of reckless actions. “There were times that they had to go and rescue soldiers who found themselves in harm’s way because of their own decisions,” one senior military official said. “The way he described it was, ‘That’s just what we do.’ ” |
| Whether that affinity with enlisted soldiers can soothe the ire of lawmakers who are outraged that they were not consulted about the swap is an open question. Even some administration officials have privately criticized the White House for not telling at least a handful of lawmakers of the pending exchange. That omission is particularly glaring given that the four people in charge of American foreign policy — President Obama, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., Secretary of State John Kerry and Mr. Hagel — are all former senators who know how easy it is to upset their former colleagues. | Whether that affinity with enlisted soldiers can soothe the ire of lawmakers who are outraged that they were not consulted about the swap is an open question. Even some administration officials have privately criticized the White House for not telling at least a handful of lawmakers of the pending exchange. That omission is particularly glaring given that the four people in charge of American foreign policy — President Obama, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., Secretary of State John Kerry and Mr. Hagel — are all former senators who know how easy it is to upset their former colleagues. |
| So far Mr. Hagel has not demonstrated Mr. Kerry’s agility in hitting back when pelted with tough questions from former colleagues. During Mr. Hagel’s confirmation hearing, he fared poorly during a tough exchange with his former friend, Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, who asked him repeatedly if history would judge whether he was right or wrong in opposing the surge in American armed forces in Iraq in 2007. The escalation, along with other major factors, was credited with helping to quell the violence in Iraq at the time. | So far Mr. Hagel has not demonstrated Mr. Kerry’s agility in hitting back when pelted with tough questions from former colleagues. During Mr. Hagel’s confirmation hearing, he fared poorly during a tough exchange with his former friend, Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, who asked him repeatedly if history would judge whether he was right or wrong in opposing the surge in American armed forces in Iraq in 2007. The escalation, along with other major factors, was credited with helping to quell the violence in Iraq at the time. |
| Mr. Hagel parried, before finally saying that “I’m not that certain that it was required.” (Mr. Hagel’s supporters say that history may ultimately prove him right, noting that on Tuesday, Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, fell to Sunni militants.) | Mr. Hagel parried, before finally saying that “I’m not that certain that it was required.” (Mr. Hagel’s supporters say that history may ultimately prove him right, noting that on Tuesday, Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, fell to Sunni militants.) |
| Mr. Hagel’s allies insisted that he was up to Wednesday’s mammoth task. “He looks forward to having the opportunity to talk to House members, to publicly walk those members through how he came to make that decision, and why he made it the way he did,” said Admiral Kirby, one of the aides preparing Mr. Hagel for his appearance. | |
| Vikram J. Singh, a former deputy assistant secretary at the Pentagon, echoed Admiral Kirby. He said, referring to Sergeant Bergdahl, “Hagel should be well equipped to say why, even in the case where the circumstances of him wandering off are not clear, that it’s the right thing to do to try to get him back.” | Vikram J. Singh, a former deputy assistant secretary at the Pentagon, echoed Admiral Kirby. He said, referring to Sergeant Bergdahl, “Hagel should be well equipped to say why, even in the case where the circumstances of him wandering off are not clear, that it’s the right thing to do to try to get him back.” |
| Some Democrats have expressed frustration with the Obama administration’s failure to make its case — and its seeming reluctance to allow uniformed military leaders to defend the principle of leaving no men or women behind. | Some Democrats have expressed frustration with the Obama administration’s failure to make its case — and its seeming reluctance to allow uniformed military leaders to defend the principle of leaving no men or women behind. |
| “I think the administration could be making a much more compelling or convincing case by using some of the facts and officials who have not been presented yet,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat and a member of the Armed Services Committee, which received a classified briefing on Tuesday. He added that Mr. Hagel should bring military officers with him on Wednesday. | “I think the administration could be making a much more compelling or convincing case by using some of the facts and officials who have not been presented yet,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat and a member of the Armed Services Committee, which received a classified briefing on Tuesday. He added that Mr. Hagel should bring military officers with him on Wednesday. |
| The most likely candidate among the military officers — Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — is in Europe. So Mr. Hagel brought with him Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr., the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. |