As expected, President Obama named former Senator Chuck Hagel to be the next Secretary of Defense. Hagel is a decorated war veteran with two Purple Hearts for service in the Vietnam War. He has also served two terms in the United States Senate. In addition, he served as Co-Chair of the president's Intelligence Advisory Board, as well as on the Council on Foreign Relations. His experience in the private sector is equally impressive.
In 2007, Hagel was one of a few Republicans who supported a Democratic-proposed troop withdrawal from Iraq within four months. In referring to Iraq and Afghanistan, he stated, "We can help them buy time or develop, but we cannot control their fates."
The calculus of power between Iraq and Iran has been a delicate balancing act. During the 80s, Iraq killed just under 200,000 Iranians while losing 60,000 Iraqi lives. Disturbing the balance of power in the region is an act with unknown consequences. By August of 1988, the UN obtained a mutually agreed upon ceasefire between Iran and Iraq.
The early 90s brought the Desert Storm coalition to Iraq to stop its aggressions in Kuwait. A decade later, the U.S. forces returned to Iraq to depose Saddam Hussein despite the fact that George Bush the elder decided against changing the Iraqi regime in the early 90s.
The area is in flux even today, with Iraq trying to rebuild its war-torn economy and Iran faltering under the weight of numerous sanctions. The decision to assert military power requires a complex analysis of the past history of the region, the current balance of power between Iraq and Iran, as well as the willingness and capacity of either nation to undermine its neighbors.
Hagel voted affirmatively for the Chemical and Biological Weapons Threat Reduction Act, which sets forth criminal penalties for possession of chemical or biological weapons. He cosponsored the American Missile Protection Act, deploying an effective national missile defense system capable of defending the US against limited ballistic missile attacks.
Hagel was considered briefly by the Obama team to be a running-mate in the 2008 election. His experience does qualify him to be seriously considered for the position of defense secretary. There are some areas where disagreements may surface. For instance, Hagel voted in favor of the Patriot Act. This vote will not endear him to all Libertarians.
Article comments
1 - John Lake
Thorough and thoughtful article. I also seem to recall that Hagel supports Obama's basic premise that indeed Palestine does have a right to exist.
2 - Igor
Why must the democratic president pick a republican executive?
Did republican presidents select democratic cabinet members?
3 - Dr Dreadful
Norman Mineta, a Democrat, was GWB's Transportation Secretary.
4 - Baronius
It's become pretty standard lately. Reagan had Kirkpatrick and Bennett. I don't recall Bush I. Clinton had a couple, and Dread notes Bush II. It's also standard practice for administrations to use their predecessors' foreign policy guys as envoys. George Mitchell is always doing something.
And, there are always plenty of bipartisan commissions.
5 - Dr Dreadful
It's also standard practice for administrations to use their predecessors' foreign policy guys as envoys. George Mitchell is always doing something.
Indeed. And I remember during the 80s and 90s, George Schultz always seemed to be in the news no matter who was president. It makes sense for administrations to set politics aside if there's someone available who really knows his or her stuff and is willing to put nation before party.
6 - Dr. Joseph S. Maresca
"After two years back at Harvard, Moynihan was appointed by Nixon in 1973 to the job of Ambassador to India, thus gratifying the old dream of foreign service. During his two years in New Delhi, Moynihan completed the tedious yet valuable job of negotiating the retirement of India's debt to the United States. But he also came to some alarming conclusions about the world: In 1975, in a widely read article in Commentary titled ''The United States in Opposition,'' he wrote that democratic values were profoundly threatened by a growing totalitarian spirit in the third world, and nobody was willing to recognize it. The governing elites, as always, were complacent, paralyzed.
Henry A. Kissinger, then Gerald Ford's Secretary of State, admired the article (he found it ''staggeringly good,'' Moynihan later wrote) and suggested Moynihan for the job of Chief Delegate to the United Nations."
http://partners.nytimes.com/books/98/10/04/specials/moynihan-mag90.html
7 - Igor
Thanks.
8 - Dr Joseph S. Maresca
Correction: Par. 3 should show 60,000 Iraqi lives lost and 200,000 Iranian lives lost.
9 - Dr Joseph S. Maresca
Thanks for the comment, John. I don't think that Israel contests the Palestinian right to exist or to even co-exist peacefully. Israel really would like Hamas to recognize that Israel has an unconditional right to exist. This plus peaceful co-existence will get the peace process rolling to a successful conclusion. This desired result may actually happen as Hamas loses power and influence in the area.