Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Report: Chuck Hagel “likely” to be nominated as next Secretary of Defense
Hotair ^ | 12/13/2012 | AllahPundit

Posted on 12/13/2012 1:51:23 PM PST by SeekAndFind

His name's been kicking around for more than a week but the "likely" part is new.

BREAKING: Former GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel likely to be nominated as Secretary of Defense

— Bloomberg News (@BloombergNews) December 13, 2012

NBC is hearing the same thing. Team O has been touting him for appointments since before The One was president, when Hagel was briefly rumored to be in the mix for VP. His name popped up again two years later as a potential successor to Dennis Blair as DNI. He's sort of the perfect Obama appointee: He's a centrist Republican, which burnishes O's phony above-the-fray post-partisan image, and he's known chiefly for harshly criticizing other Republicans, especially on Iraq. In fact, Hagel has the distinction of having voted for the initial invasion of Iraq and then later opposed the surge, which puts him squarely opposite the conventional wisdom on how well each of those ventures worked out. Nevertheless, I assume he'll sail through the confirmation process. The Senate tends to go easy on its alums when they’re up for a cabinet post, and if anyone’s inclined to come after him for being insufficiently hawkish, the fact that he served with distinction in Vietnam will give him plenty of cover. (He and McCain are good friends so don’t expect static from the hawk-in-chief.)

His biggest problem will be answering questions about his past criticism of Israel. For Obama, that’s a feature, not a bug, but for other Democrats who have to worry about re-election, not so much. The Washington Free Beacon was on it last week:

“It would be a very unwise and disastrous choice for U.S. policies and activities regarding the Middle East,” said Morris Amitay, a former executive director of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)…

Hagel’s efforts to open up direct negotiations with Iran and its terrorist proxy Hamas have placed him at odds with the pro-Israel community and the majority of Congress.

His legislative record reads like an anti-Israel rap sheet, sources said.

Hagel has declined to sign multiple letters of support for the Jewish state and has balked when presented with opportunities to condemn Tehran’s efforts to enrich uranium near levels needed to produce a nuclear weapon.

The Beacon followed up this afternoon by noting that he’s a member of the board of Deutsche Bank America despite Deutsche Bank in Germany being under investigation for having possibly evaded sanctions on Iran. That won’t stop the Senate from confirming him, but all of the above should add some exciting new nuance to U.S./Israeli military cooperation in O’s second term under Secretary Hagel.

Exit question: What does this signal as far as Obama’s choice between Kerry and Susan Rice at State? Presumably O’s willing to risk only one “difficult” nomination next year; Rice would be difficult, Kerry would not, but what about Hagel? I think he’d actually be relatively easy, his views on Israel notwithstanding, partly because he’s an ex-senator and partly because he’s a Republican whose chief point of alienation from the party is a war that most of the public now thinks was a mistake. He’ll say all (or most) of the right things about Israel in his confirmation hearings and probably get 75 or so votes, which means Obama can then go to the mat on nominating Rice. He’ll have already thrown the Republicans a bone, supposedly, by nominating one of their own at Defense, which will help buy him the public’s benefit of the doubt about being “reasonable” when partisan war breaks out over Rice.

Update: I see that the left is grumbling on Twitter that nominating a Republican (or rather, another Republican) for Defense sends the message that the GOP is the party of national security, to the point where even Democratic presidents have to cross the aisle to find a suitable appointee at the Pentagon. I don’t buy it. For one thing, Panetta’s been there for awhile now; for another, O himself has been sufficiently hawkish — ostentatiously so in the case of Bin Laden and the drone campaign and Libya — that Romney’s supposed national-security advantage in the last election was completely neutralized at best. It’s not Bob Gates who’s most closely associated in the public’s mind with Obama’s counterterror successes, it’s Obama himself. The White House has taken great care to make sure of that, and they’ve succeeded. So, from a purely political standpoint, who cares whether it’s an R or D at Defense if it’s O in the White House?


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; Israel; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: chuckhagel; defense; dod; hagel; hageliandialectic; iraniansanctions; islam; israel; obama; waronterror
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-37 next last

1 posted on 12/13/2012 1:51:34 PM PST by SeekAndFind
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

When Zero throws Israel under the bus, he can blame the GOP.


2 posted on 12/13/2012 1:55:14 PM PST by rfp1234 (Arguing with a liberal is like playing chess with a pigeon.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind
Kerry had me riled up.
3 posted on 12/13/2012 1:55:53 PM PST by mountainlion (Live well for those that did not make it back.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

He is anti-Israel and a nasty piece of work who was sucking up to the Democrats last I saw him. He was a backstabber (GW Bush)


4 posted on 12/13/2012 2:00:22 PM PST by dennisw (The first principle is to find out who you are then you can achieve anything)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

I suppose I should know this but I don’t so I’ll ask...is it reasonable for me to assume that Hagel’s a RINO? It’s hard to imagine any *real* Republican getting within a country mile of the OsamaObama Administration without a hazmat suit on.


5 posted on 12/13/2012 2:04:06 PM PST by Gay State Conservative (Benghazi: What Did Baraq Know And When Did He Know It?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

6 posted on 12/13/2012 2:09:56 PM PST by rlmorel (1793 French Jacobins and 2012 American Liberals have a lot in common.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gay State Conservative

Hagal is the VERY Definition of “RINO”!


7 posted on 12/13/2012 2:10:49 PM PST by US Navy Vet (Go Packers! Go Rockies! Go Boston Bruins! See, I'm "Diverse"!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind
For those who don't know, Hagel is a McCain clone/RINO who's about as tough on defense as George McGovern. He'll be perfect for the Obama kneel-down strategy.

The Senate could probably filibuster this appointment but that would require a GOP with some guts so it'll happen about the time Hell throws a kegger.

8 posted on 12/13/2012 2:13:05 PM PST by IronJack (=)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: US Navy Vet

Not only a Rino, he is a major league anti Israel and anti US military a-hole.


9 posted on 12/13/2012 2:15:16 PM PST by mortal19440
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

There is a brite side (for me).

This will keep Chuck out of Nebraska for a few more years. We have a long tradition of electing people we really don’t want around to public office.


10 posted on 12/13/2012 2:20:35 PM PST by redgolum ("God is dead" -- Nietzsche. "Nietzsche is dead" -- God.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

O’Bozo wants a Republican to blame for Pansy-fying and downsizing the military.


11 posted on 12/13/2012 2:22:25 PM PST by Iron Munro (I MISS AMERICA !)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: IronJack

A McCain clone? They hate each other! Hagel blasted gramps in 2007 for being pro war. Hagel insinuated without comming right out and endorsing he was pro Obama. Hagel and Obama were friends in the senate and worked on nuclear weapons security. Hagel is definitely a RHINO but nothing like Gramps. This will shut gramps out of military no matter what committee he is on. This appointment is a big FU to John.


12 posted on 12/13/2012 2:25:43 PM PST by chopperjc
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: IronJack
The Senate could probably filibuster this appointment but that would require a GOP with some guts

They don't filibuster former members of the Senate. That's not how The Club operates. Obama no doubt knows this (and yes, if you want to put a Republican face on unilateral disarmament, Chuck Hagel is undoubtedly your guy)


13 posted on 12/13/2012 2:26:10 PM PST by Buckeye McFrog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Buckeye McFrog
They don't filibuster former members of the Senate. That's not how The Club operates.

Somehow the Dems didn't get the memo when John Tower was nominated.

14 posted on 12/13/2012 2:35:00 PM PST by Hugin ("Most times a man'll tell you his bad intentions, if you listen and let yourself hear."---Open Range)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: IronJack

Actually, he is not a McCain clone. He is so left RINO, he makes McCain appear to be to the right of most of the posters on this site (only appears).

All I can say for Hagel is that he is better than Kerry for SecDef - which is why Kerry’s name was probably floated.


15 posted on 12/13/2012 2:35:08 PM PST by BruceS
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: chopperjc
Hagel aligned with Ted "Gimme Another" Kennedy and McCain on a Senate amnesty bill. He's buddies with "Dick" Lugar, Joe "Where'd I Put Me Brain?" Biden, and supported the McCain-Feingold Anti-First-Amendment censorship bill.

He may not be on John McCrazy's Christmas card list, but he's definitely an ideological clone. If anything, he's more wishy-washy than McBraindead.

16 posted on 12/13/2012 2:49:30 PM PST by IronJack (=)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

This will be touted by Obamao as a bi-partisan action which is indicative of his non-partisan approach to gov’t, and unfortunately, most of the GOPE in the Senate will applaud that statement as true.

Screw them all. The GOP is dead to me. Until all of the entrenched GOPE die off, there is no hope of reviving the party in a Conservative mold. It is time to build, aggressively, a third party Libertarian Conservative coalition and party.


17 posted on 12/13/2012 2:55:28 PM PST by RobertClark (Inside every "older" person is a younger person wondering what the hell happened?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: IronJack

I do not disagree on wish washy, but when it comes to military they are very much opposed. This is why Hagel did everything but endorse Obama. Hagel came out during election and opposed gramps on Iraq. Also where was Hagel when Katrina happened? With Obama in Russia on a trip over security for nuclear weapons security. Gramps is all about military and him and Hagel are completely opposite here. Hagel prefers diplomacy and gramps not so much.


18 posted on 12/13/2012 2:58:40 PM PST by chopperjc
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Gay State Conservative

Leon Panetta himself was “once” a Republican Congressman representing the 16th District in California, back about 1973, but switched parties when he became “appalled” with the Republicans when Nixon had to resign over Watergate.

Chuck Hagel is another RINO who never had much party allegiance, much like former Florida Charlie Crist, who only recently changed from “Republican” to “Democrat”, probably one of the more honest actions he has undertaken in his career.

I kind of see a pattern here, the Current Regime reaching out for somebody who has SOME credibility for the job, and it just happens, most of them were at one time or another, associated with the Republicans in the past.

But of course, it was the party that left them, not the other way around.


19 posted on 12/13/2012 3:02:17 PM PST by alloysteel (Bronco Bama - the cowboy who whooped up and widened the stampede.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: US Navy Vet

20 posted on 12/13/2012 3:16:58 PM PST by twister881
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-37 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson