Hagel’s Bergdahl dialectic

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel appeared before the House Armed Services Committee this week to testify on the deal that resulted in the release of the Taliban Five in exchange for Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl. Steve Hayes reviews Hagel’s testimony in the Weekly Standard article “More unraveling.” Steve points out that Hagel retreated from previously asserted reasons advanced to support the deal. Hagel presents as a walking case of dialectical argument with himself and his colleagues in the Obama administration. What a disgrace.

Byron York reviews Hagel’s testimony in “Hagel hedges the tough questions.” Byron does not need the skill of a literary critic to find the motif in Hagel’s testimony: “Hagel was full of wiggle words. Actually, just one wiggle word — ‘direct’ — but Hagel used it repeatedly to sow confusion about some key questions.”

About this we should not be confused: the Five are evil bastards. Also in the Weekly Standard, Tom Joscelyn sets forth “Their 9/11 role.”

In the video below, Rep. Randy Forbes (R, VA) asks Hagel a few pointed questions and succeeds in extracting an answer or two.

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