Fresh off a trip to India and Australia, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel addressed a group of Marines in San Diego, California Tuesday, and may have delivered a line that will show up in Republican campaign ads this election cycle. After updating the troops on some issues in the Pacific region and the Middle East, Hagel took questions from some of the Marines and gave a stark assessment of the global security situation: “The world is exploding all over.” The remark came in response to a question about the Obama administration’s realignment of the military towards the Asia-Pacific theater:
Hagel went on say that, despite the rebalancing towards the Pacific, the US will not be “retreating” from any threats elsewhere in the world.
Whether they’re cyber threats, which are relatively new, but are just as real and deadly and lethal as anything we’ve ever dealt with, obviously, what’s going on in North Korea, China’s behavior in the South China Sea, East China Sea, you mentioned Russia’s actions in Ukraine, North Africa, the Middle East today, every part of that world is troubled under great stress.
Hagel noted in his talk with the Marines, “We’re in more countries, involved in more operations with more partners all over the world than we’ve ever been in.” Hagel has faced criticism from Republicans for cutting the military budget and specific programs while at the same time expanding the overall mission of U.S. forces.
The Obama administration has increasingly come under fire lately for weakness in foreign policy, even from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, though Clinton seemed to subsequently walk back her criticism.
