Chuck Hagel

Sexual assaults in military: 'Little monsters' now in charge

2013-05-17 09:23:00

Paula Coughlin was grocery shopping in Jacksonville, Fla., when I caught up with her on the phone this week. If anyone has an interesting perspective on the U.S. military’s absurd inability to deal with sexual assault, it’s Coughlin. She is...

Obama responds to criticism with 'fix it' strategy

2013-05-16 19:07:00

WASHINGTON — At a news conference in a rainy Rose Garden on Thursday, President Obama and the Turkish prime minister had weighty matters to discuss — the bloody civil war in Syria, a disastrous Syrian refugee crisis and Turkey's strained...

Soldier in sexual assault prevention program accused of abuse

2013-05-14 22:52:00

WASHINGTON — A soldier assigned to coordinate a sexual assault prevention program in Texas is under investigation for "abusive sexual contact" and other alleged misconduct and has been suspended from his duties, the Army announced Tuesday. The...

Defense to furlough most of its 800,000 civilians

2013-05-14 13:19:00

WASHINGTON — The Defense Department will furlough most of its 800,000 civilian employees for 11 days, a decision that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel called “difficult” but necessary to meet mandatory federal spending cuts this year...

Military sex crime record should bring shame

2013-05-07 17:42:00

Maybe, in the end, we will thank Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinksi, head of the Air Force’s Sexual Assault Prevention Unit, who was arrested on suspicion of sexual battery early Sunday after a woman reported he drunkenly approached her in a parking lot and...

Air Force sex-assault chief arrested on sexual battery charges

2013-05-06 17:20:00

The man leading a U.S. Air Force program responsible for preventing sexual assault has been arrested on suspicion of drunkenly groping a woman in an Arlington, Va., parking lot, officials said Monday. Lt. Col. Jeffrey Krusinski, 41 -- shown with several...

Pentagon reports sharp rise in military sexual assaults

2013-05-07 21:30:00

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon estimated that 26,000 members of the military were sexually assaulted in unreported incidents last year — 35% more than in 2010 — a severe trend that senior officials warned could threaten recruiting and...

The hawks are squawking about Obama's rubbery red line in Syria

2013-05-01 05:00:00

The hawks are squawking. Congressional conservatives and the right-wing media are blasting President Obama for going soft on the Syrians. The president insists that there is a "game-changing" red line the Syrian government will have crossed if it is...

CIA buys trouble in Afghanistan

2013-05-02 00:00:00

In a time when the whetted and arbitrary deficit-reduction knife is cutting bone out of critical U.S. government programs, the image of shopping bags stuffed with CIA cash handed off on a monthly basis to Afghan President Hamid Karzai — who reigns...

Britain, France press for U.N. inquiry on Syria chemical arms use

2013-04-18 17:55:00

WASHINGTON — The British and French governments have asked the United Nations to investigate what they believe is credible evidence that the Syrian regime has used small amounts of chemical weapons in recent months, officials said Thursday. The...

Step toward possible military intervention in Syria

2013-04-17 18:16:00

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is sending about 200 troops to Jordan, the vanguard of a potential U.S. military force of 20,000 or more that could be deployed if the Obama administration decides to intervene in Syria to secure chemical weapons arsenals...

Hagel vows solidarity with Israel at start of Mideast trip

2013-04-21 03:33:00

JERUSALEM -- Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel arrived in Israel on Sunday to begin a weeklong tour of the Middle East as the region grapples with the worsening civil war in Syria and the stubborn nuclear threat from Iran. Making his first visit to the...

President Barack Obama speaks during a meeting with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen.

2013-05-16 22:43:00

Chuck Hagel, a former senator from Nebraska, is the first Vietnam War veteran to serve as secretary of defense. Only four of Hagel's fellow Republicans voted for his confirmation.

2013-05-02 00:00:00

U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) meets with President Barack Obama's nominee for secretary of defense and former U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) February 7, 2013 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

2013-02-07 00:00:00