How can the public blame Gordon? Hagel wanted to send people in, and Gordon's been prolonging the re-opening.
I see it like this
They can't blame Hagel. He's gone. Would they? Would Hagel have paid more attention to the report? Did Gordon know about something and just ignore it? Would Hagel have known about the report? Doesn't matter because Hagel is gone and Gordon disputed the report. What the American people know is that Gordon sent people in and more Americans died.
Gordon also wasn't as much prolonging the reopening as botching the reopening which led to delays.
Okay that makes more sense.
What
are the positions of the two parties, whose names are even confusable?