instead begin to normalize relations between our two countries. welcome, i m paul gigot, that was president obama unveiling sweeping changes to u.s. policy towards cuba in the wake of a swap that freed american contractor alan gross after five years in prison. the president announced the surprise deal on wednesday and said his administration will take steps to normalize diplomatic relations with cuba and eegs economic and travel restrictions. he also called on congress to have an honest and serious debate about lifting the trade embargo which has been in place since 1962. joining the panel this week, dan henninger, america s columnist, mary o gradedy and global view columnist brett stevens. mary, is this a better deal for cuba or the united states? quite obviously it s a better deal for the cuban regime, not for the cuben people. not only because we got one person who was spying for us in prison in cuba almost 20 years in exchange for three cuban spies that were in jail
pushed out by president obama. in a move that further consolidates national security decision-making in the white house. and raises questions about the direction of the administration s foreign policy last two years. for more i m join by wall street journal columnist dan henninger, brett stevens and editorial board member matt kaminski. what s fascinating here, many on the right and left in talking about the hagel resignation, base he canally say the problem with obama s foreign policy isn t hagel, wasn t hagel, it s in the white house. the thing is chuck hagel is a nonenty as a chief at the pentagon. he started out very badly at his confirmation hearings, could never articulate the policy and then after he was thrown over the white house spun he was really not up to the job, they picked him for the job in the first place. but he was not the problem with the foreign policy you say he s a nonentity. that s the white house spin. but is that fair or was the real problem th