Hagel the fall guy for Obama's bad policies

Washington Examiner Editorial:

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But events have rapidly made Obama's plan as obsolete as a Cold War-era Pentagon super-weapon. Even so, this is not Hagel's fault. Obama cannot justly blame Hagel for doing exactly what he wanted. Hagel was not the architect of the “unbelievably small” era of the American military, but its handmaiden.

Hagel cannot be blamed for the lack of diligence Obama showed when withdrawing from Iraq, which created the current Islamic State problem. Hagel's predecessor, Leon Panetta, has credibly blamed Obama himself for that. Hagel did not squander the costly gains made by a decade of U.S. military involvement in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Hagel did not get to make the final call on releasing Guantanamo detainees, including two United Nations war crime suspects, without following the law and giving Congress advance notice. Hagel did not draw a red line in the Syrian sand that he had no intention of enforcing.

Nor can Hagel be blamed for other foreign policy problems that Obama has created for himself, including the evident loss of respect for America by both enemies such as Russia and erstwhile allies such as Egypt, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Poland.
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I think Hagel's downfall was the result of the scales being lifted from his eyes in having to deal with the real world.  He was starting to push back against Obama's lack of strategy and lack of resolve.  The main question for any replacement should be whether they supported the disastrous retreat from Iraq.