AIPAC Picks Wrong Battle with Hagel

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright Dec.19, 2012
All Rights Reserved.                                         

           Picking the wrong battle at the wrong time, the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee didn’t hesitate to voice its opposition to President Barack Obama’s expected pick to replace outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta with 66-year-old former U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.).  AIPAC’s misplaced objections stem from Hagel’s 2006 remarks that the “Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people around here [Washington],” a politically incorrect taboo around the Beltway.  Since Sept. 11, it’s been unfashionable to question Israel’s foreign and domestic policy watching Palestinians dancing in the streets of Ramallah and Gaza after the World Trade Center Twin Towers went down.  Instead of celebrating an astute and well-deserved pick for Defense Secretary, AIPAC rushed to judgment, not realizing that Hagel—as Defense Secretary—would not set U.S.-Israeli foreign policy.

             Earning himself two Purple Hearts and a host of other decorations for distinguished service in Vietnam [1967-1968], Hagel’s real heroism started when he bucked former President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney on the rationale for starting the Iraq War.  Apart from the fact that no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq, Hagel voiced concerns about equating Sept. 11 mastermind Osama bin Laden with Iraq’s dictator, Saddam Hussein.  By the time the Iraq War started March 20, 2003, 60% of the American people believed that Saddam Hussein was responsible for Sept. 11.  Bush, Cheney, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice all insisted that Iraq was the “central front in the war on terror,” something Hagel refused to accept.  Hagel’s courageous opposition to the Iraq War in his own Party left him a political pariah.

             Pushing the Patriot Act, Bush and Cheney questioned the patriotism of anyone daring to see national security differently, especially when it came to the Afghan and Iraq Wars.  While it’s to Bush and Cheney’s credit that they broke off diplomatic relations with all terrorist groups, including Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organization, and gave Israel a blank check to manage their own security, no U.S. official should be intimidated by lobbying groups.  Obama earned the right Nov. 6 to pick whomever he wishes for his Cabinet.  When U.S. Amb. Susan Rice withdrew—with good reason—her name for Secretary of State, it opened the door for Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.).  Whatever lobbying group has reservations for any Cabinet or judicial nominee, it’s their right to support or oppose any pick.  AIPAC’s decision to oppose Hagel is shortsighted and premature.

             Whatever Hagel’s past remarks about Israel or AIPAC, he’s more than capable of addressing those concerns at confirmation hearings.  “This is a nomination that could be toxic to some for the White House,” said an unnamed Senate foreign policy aide.  “Do they really want this in the first months of a second term?”  There’s nothing toxic about nominating a person of Hagel’s character and integrity.  Whether or not everyone agrees with all his public remarks shouldn’t deter the president from making the nomination.  Saying Hagel “has anti-Israel, pro-appeasement-of-Iran bona-fides,” shows how off-base conservative Weekly Standard editor William Kristol can be.  Kristol and other former Bush administration neo-conservatives have done a lifetime of damage to U.S. foreign policy and the economy.  Defending Israel doesn’t begin and end with the neocon’s endorsement or strategy.

             Hagel’s personal views of Israel or the Palestinian problem have little to do with the official White House policy.  Whether or not he’s been critical of AIPAC or U.S. policy toward Israel should not have any bearing on his nomination for Defense Secretary.  Hagel’s job will be to keep the Pentagon ready to defend the national security and interests of the United States.  Defense Secretaries don’t make or set foreign policy:  They implement the president’s mandate to defend the U.S. against all enemies foreign and domestic.  Hagel will have to answer what he meant in 2006 by the “Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people here,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.  Hagel, of course, referred to the group of pro-Israel neocons at the Pentagon, including former Asst. Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and his hawkish friends.

              Hagel’s confirmation hearing could be one of great equalizers in recent U.S. history.  No one—Democrat or Republican—was more honest than Hagel in identifying the lobbying and corporate influences that pushed for the Iraq War, costing nearly 4,500 U.S. lives and over $1 trillion in tax dollars.  Hinting that Hagel still has strong backing in the Senate Armed Services Committee, Graham sounded more sanguine.  “He’s been a friend, he’s had a stellar military record, but these comments disturb a lot of people,” said Graham, showing far more tolerance than for Amb. Susan Rice.  “We would review his entire record,” said Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee.  Whatever Hagel’s past statements, he spoke the truth on Iraq and will do the same on any other matter concerning U.S. defense policy.  Barack can count on Chuck’s unvarnished honesty.

 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.