Hagel Top Contender for Defense Secretary

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright Dec.15, 2012
All Rights Reserved.                                         

           When 74-year-old Defense Secretary Leon Panetta retires Jan. 20, 2013, President Barack Obama intends to nominate his current Chairman of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, 66-year-old former U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.).  Hagel, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, served two terms as U.S. senator [1997-2009] as a respected Republican before targeted by the George W. Bush administration for opposing the Iraq War.  Hagel sacrificed his GOP political career trying to give an objective assessment of the Iraq conflict, often butting heads with Bush and his Vice President Dick Cheney on the relationship  between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terror organization.  Hagel didn’t back down informing the public that the two were not connected, and, more importantly, that Iraq was not, as Bush and Cheney insisted, “the central front in the war on terror.” 

              Hagel’s six-year battle with the Bush White House drove him into early retirement from the U.S. Senate but won him respect and plaudits from Democrats and independents.  When Barack walloped former GOP nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in 2008 to become president, Hagel was considered a top contender for Defense Secretary.  Many Democrats hoped in 2008 that Barack would cross Party lines and appoint Hagel.  While the job stayed with Bush Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the time has come for Hagel to get what he deserves:  A key Cabinet post.  No one in modern U.S. history exemplifies more what the late President John F. Kennedy called “profiles in courage” than Hagel.  He sacrificed his political career to get the truth out about Iraq and its damage to the Pentagon and U.S. military.  Obama gets the chance to promote Hagel to run the Pentagon.

             With U.N. Amb. Susan Rice off the list for Secretary of State and U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) the prohibitive favorite, Obama has some key Cabinet positions to fill, including State, Defense and Treasury departments.  While Obama’s catching flack for not choosing a woman, Obama could not pick better-suited and more qualified professionals than Kagel and Kerry.  Rice’s gaffes in the wake of the Benghazi debacle turned into a real silver lining for the American people.  Whether admitted to or not, the president needed someone with more experience to run both Defense and State departments during a treacherous time of American foreign policy.  Obama’s smart move to name Hagel is somewhat reminiscent of Obama retaining Gates to run the Pentagon.  Getting Hagel into a top Cabinet and decision-making loop improves U.S. national security.

             Hagel was an outspoken opponent of the Afghan and Iraq Wars, especially the Bush administration’s objective to democratize the Middle East.  “It’s easy to get into war, not so easy to get out,” Hagel wrote in 2009 in a commentary for the Washington Post.  “Accordingly, we cannot view U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan through a lens that sees only ‘winning’ or ‘losing.  Iraq and Afghanistan are not America’s to win or lose,” said Hagel, addressing the kind of phony patriotism promoted by the Bush administration that you’re “either with us or against us.”  Hagel was the first GOP figure to break ranks with the Bush White House when it became clear that neither Afghanistan nor Iraq had any benefit to U.S. national security.  “Win what?  We can help them buy time or develop, but we cannot control their fate,” wrote Hagel, giving the naked truth about Iraq and Afghanistan.

             Given the hawks in Congress that now call for bombing Syria and jumping into a conflict with Iran, Hagel’s the perfect counterbalance to those that forget, or minimize, the consequences of the Afghan and Iraq Wars.  “Engagement is not surrender.  It’s not appeasement,” Hagel told the Atlantic Council this week.  Direct talks are “an opportunity to better understand” others, deflecting criticism on Obama that discourages the White House from speaking directly to Iran.  Obama was criticized in 2008 and more recently in 2012 for daring to suggest that the U.S. should engage Iran directly.  Unlike Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Hagel would be more cautious in Syria where a host of potentially terrorist groups make up the insurgency trying to topple Bashar al Assad.  Hillary joined McCain March 5, calling on the Pentagon to begin air strikes against Syria. 

             Picking Hagel signals a less adventurous use of the U.S. military.  Having tasted the ravages of war with two Purple Hearts, Hagel will be more cautious putting U.S. enlisted personnel into harm’s way.  While Obama will no doubt get pushed to intervene militarily in Syria and Iran—and possibly North Korea—Hagel will sound a sobering note to the Commander-in-Chief.  Hagel won’t get pushed around by certain lobbying groups, threatening political consequences for anyone disagreeing with their views.  “While in the Senate, Hagel voted against designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist group, and consistently voted against sanctions for Iran for their illicit pursuit of nuclear weapons capability,” said Josh Block, former spokesman for the American Israeli Public Affairs Council [AIPAC].  Obama can count on Hagel to give him solid and wise military advice.

 John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.