Obama nominates Ashton Carter Defense Secretary
President Obama Friday named Pentagon official Ashton Carter, 60, as Secretary of Defense to replace Chuck Hagel who resigned under White House pressure two weeks ago. Carter was deputy defense secretary from October 2011 to Dec. 2013 under Leon Panetta. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the fourth Pentagon chief o be appointed in Obama’s six-years at the White House. Military sources report that Hagel took issue with Obama’s policy for hitting ISIS forces in Syria and Iraq without at the same time attacking Bashar Assad’s troops. This policy, he argued, made the Syrian dictator stronger and able to withstand the the more than three-year rebellion against him.