Hagel may become US defense secretary next week
Hagel may become US defense secretary next week | The Times of Israel.
Fight this !
( I implore all my American readers to contact their Senators and ask them to oppose this catastrophic nomination. – JW )
Former Republican senator said to have an ‘endemic hostility towards Israel’ is the front-runner for the top Pentagon post
WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama may round out his new national security leadership team next week, with a nomination for defense secretary expected and a pick to lead the CIA possible.
Former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, said by a top House Democrat in a recent Newsmakers interview to have an “endemic hostility towards Israel,” is the front-runner for the top Pentagon post. Acting CIA Director Michael Morell and Obama counterterrorism adviser John Brennan are leading contenders to head the spy agency.
The public fight over the possible nomination of former senator Hagel as secretary of defense is quickly crystallizing into a battle over the “Israel lobby” and its ostensible influence on the US national agenda.
Pundits and several former officials who support Hagel have responded to criticism of the potential nominee by railing against “the brutal AIPAC-led campaign” against him — AIPAC has not expressed an opinion on the possible nomination — and suggested the battle against Hagel is being led by a “small minority of zealots” driven by their hardline views on Israel.
White House aides said the president has not made a final decision on either post and won’t until he returns from Hawaii, where he is vacationing with his family. Obama is due back in Washington Sunday morning.
Obama nominated Sen. John Kerry to replace Hillary Rodham Clinton as secretary of state in December, his first step in filling out his second term Cabinet and national security team. Kerry, as well as the nominees for the Pentagon and CIA, must be confirmed by the Senate.
Hagel, the former senator from Nebraska, is a contrarian Republican moderate and decorated Vietnam combat veteran who is likely to support a more rapid withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan. If confirmed, Hagel would give Obama a whiff of bipartisanship in his Cabinet.
Even before his nomination, Hagel’s consideration for the top Pentagon job raised concerns among some of his former Senate colleagues, who questioned his pronouncements on Iraq, Israel and the Middle East. Troubling for some lawmakers are Hagel’s comments and actions on Israel, including his reference to the “Jewish lobby” in the United States.
Hagel has also been criticized for comments he made in 1998 about an openly gay nominee for an ambassadorship. In an interview with the Omaha World-Herald in 1998, Hagel said he believed that for a US ambassador, “it is an inhibiting factor to be gay” and referred to James C. Hormel as “openly, aggressively gay.” He has since apologized for those comments.
If nominated and confirmed, Hagel would replace current Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.
Morell has served as the CIA’s acting director since early November, after David Petraeus resigned after admitting to an affair with his biographer.
Brennan, Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser, worked at the CIA for 25 years, including a stint as station chief in Saudi Arabia. He also served as chief of staff to then CIA Director George Tenent from 1999 to 2001, when he was named the agency’s deputy executive director.
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WarSclerotic 
January 5, 2013 at 2:20 PM
He’s certain to become defense secretary. Why? We have already seen how openly hostile Obama is to Israel. Why should we expect anything different now?
The drones of the left will support this nomination without question. Even the Jewish ones.
January 5, 2013 at 2:29 PM
TB, don’t assume it’s a lost cause. Pro-Israel and Pro-Gay forces are joining in opposing. Hel’ll be slammed from the right and the left.
PLEASE CONTACT YOUR SENATORS. “A vote for him insures my vote against you!”
January 5, 2013 at 3:08 PM
After being reelected and with the ”fiscal cliff ” behind him, finally Obama can regroup and launching his offensive against Israel.
Netanyahu’ attempts to influence the american elections, the profound antipathy towards the israeli PM, all these and more are determining now Obama to go up to the end of the ”israeli problem”. First, he activated his european puddles to condemn and isolate Israel diplomatically. Second, he will isolate Israel in the administration, by nominating antisemitic dogs in the key places.
And all these, behind the telling of ” our commitment to Israel security is stronger than ever.”
And now, my dear friends, can we ask some simple questions ? Who is acting in those ways towards Israel and has the highest position in the world ? Who will try to sell Israel to his enemies while telling us how he carries about Israel ? Who is trying to destroy America from within ? Who is this man? If you still don’t get the answer, then we all have a big problem.
But, if you finally get it and you know him, then let all the men know who is Obama and expose him.
January 5, 2013 at 5:15 PM
“Netanyahu’ attempts to influence the american elections”
This was always a false charge from the left here in US. All Netanyahu did is publicly sound the alarm on Iran, while Obama and his regime spent much more time and energy trying to constrain Israel and downplay the threat both privately and publicly.
If anything Netanyahu bent over backwards to not “interfere” in US elections by not initiating military action and giving Iran several months longer to arm themselves and putting Israeli security at much greater risk.
January 5, 2013 at 5:33 PM
Ok, I respect your point of view, but you still are missing the essential of our idea.
January 5, 2013 at 3:48 PM
It is not conspiracy theory. It is just the result of plain and transparent financial transaction between the lobby of the Islamic fundamentalism and the White House. Money always talks loudly.
January 5, 2013 at 4:23 PM
We are not talking here about any conspiracy theory. Read, please , the rhetorical questions and see what do we really mean.
January 5, 2013 at 5:51 PM
There is also one more aspect which must clarified regarding the personality of ”Chuck” Hagel : his father was of german origin, his mother was polish-irish and the school where he learned was catholic.
Look, may be its only us, but an israeli analyst here thought that all these may explain the fact that our ”Chuck” is a sad antisemite.
Anyhow, that will be enough for Obama to appoint this man in this sensitive key position.
January 5, 2013 at 8:35 PM
To put it in context he is a leftist fascist he hates everyone
January 5, 2013 at 6:10 PM
“A pro-lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender group issued a statement today urging President Barack Obama not to nominate Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense.”
Not to worry JW. The Gay lobby is opposed to his appointment. While Obama may not care about Israeli concerns, he will be concerned about his beloved gay community. Hagel is a ‘loose cannon’ and has made a lot of comments in the past that wil haunt him in the confirmation process.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/lgbt-group-takes-issue-hagel-nomination-urges-obama-abandon_693719.html
January 5, 2013 at 7:22 PM
Vey good point, Steve. May be he wont be appointed, after all.
January 5, 2013 at 10:40 PM
If Hagel gets the nomination, just attack Iran on the same day !
This will force him and Obama to publicly assert on whose side they stand. And it should prevent them from pursuing whatever nefarious plan they have for Israel in the near future, which seems to be to ditch Israel to gain a vast Muslim support against China and Russia. And maybe India too. Those Americans are real fools since there is nothing Muslims hate more on this planet than the free sexuality of American and European women.
January 6, 2013 at 5:50 AM
“…there is nothing Muslims hate more on this planet than the free sexuality of American and European women.”
Please forgive me Kishonist, I would have written:
“…there is nothing Muslims like more on this planet than the free x-rated websites featuring American and European women.”
January 6, 2013 at 2:32 PM
If nominated, Israel and American support for Israel will lose whether or not Hagel is confirmed. If his confirmation is defeated the leftist media will very loudly be shouting that the Jews control the US government. Jews will be viewed as a controlling minority by ever greater sections of the American public. The false left wing accusation that Netanyahu tried to influence our presidential election will be repeated daily. The pressure on Jewish groups and elected officials to stay quiet during the nomination process will be, without a doubt, immense. If the nomination is successful then another Jew hater will be steering the US government policies.
Either way Obama is wins and he will make a toast to his own brilliance.
Obama’s plan to surround Israel with violent Jihadist governments quietly continues. Can you imagine that the US is still sending our fighter jets to Egypt despite the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood has expressed its hatred of America for decades, without hardly a peep from the asleep American public.
My prediction, the left wing American Jews are going to keep their mouths shut; and except for a few radical gays, the majority of the left wing gays are going to accept Hagel’s apology.
January 6, 2013 at 7:44 PM
Norm has a good idea of what may happen.
January 6, 2013 at 9:28 PM
Obama continues to fight his ”struggle” against Israel; his men, on the last DNC, refuses to add the God in the final democratic paper(unheard till that day).
What we have here is a man who is against Israel and his methods and modus operandi are well known to us from the Apostles writings; he who is against the people of God is also against Jesus – who was also a jew and a great man. And he who is against Jesus we know what his name is.
January 7, 2013 at 1:50 PM
Whether obama is THE One or just another one, I know he is just a tool for the ‘Father of Lies’, for the master of all deceivers who leads men to their own destruction and eternal damnation.
Therefore our most potent weapon is the truth.
In reality he is very weak, because his house is build on sand, for in the end the truth always prevails over the lie.
January 7, 2013 at 4:13 PM
Now’s there’s two to watch out for, Hagal and Brennan. Brennanr, as you know, is Obama’s new CIA tool:
http://michellemalkin.com/
January 7, 2013 at 5:53 PM
Obama is far more dangerous for America than he is for Israel. If his open agenda is so bad for the roots of the american idea, then give a thought regarding his hidden agenda.
January 7, 2013 at 7:06 PM
100% correct. Bleak outlook for America so far.
That is why all Americans who love their country and their freedom must act now
I also agree with almost everything Norm said.
My only disagreement is this:Some left wing American Jews will not keep their mouths shut but they will even support obama’s nomination of Hagel (as Thomas Friedman has already done).
January 8, 2013 at 12:54 AM
Obama is flooding the political forum in this country with so many things lately. A tactic no doubt. We have the two nominations/appointments involving defense and intelligence. We have gay marriage, the fiscal cliff, new taxes, newly activated provisions of Obamacare, debt ceiling debate, spending cuts, gun control, presidential term limits, the legality of executive orders, and the soon to be ‘resolution’ of immigration. Two things to note here. One is the old adage ‘divide and conquer’ and two is the fact that domestic problems take the heat off foreign matters. I think this is part of his strategy. Never have I seen before so many grave issues facing this country at one time…and we’ve got 4 more years to go!
People got what they voted for here in the US. Maybe after another 4 years of some real suffering people will finally see their error in electing Obama. Unfortunately, a lot of good intended folks will suffer too.