Hageltopia: Hagel and His Original Ideas About the “Jewish Lobby”
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antisemitism Chuck Hagel Obama hagel hagel afghanistan Hagel Israel Hagel nomination hagel utopia Jewish lobby obama white house
Chuck Hagel visiting Iraq. Photo: Wiki Commons.
There were plenty of good candidates to pick from for the post of next U.S. Secretary of Defense. For President Barack Obama, Chuck Hagel was the natural choice. He’s a Republican, a clear isolationist, a proponent of extensive defense budget cuts, and opposes involvement in overseas adventures (including in Iran).
And lest we forget—he also has “original ideas,” as described by Obama, which are expressed by his openly critical stance towards Israel and “the Jewish lobby.”
If that weren’t enough (although it is enough for the current administration), the former Nebraskan senator’s appointment is a virtual slap in the face to Obama’s foes in the rival camp, those who espouse hawkish policies. In short, Hagel meets all the criteria required by the president in his second term. If Hagel wouldn’t have existed—Obama would have invented him.
Hagel will need to pass a Senate confirmation hearing before moving into his new office at the Pentagon. It won’t be so simple. Obama knows this appointment isn’t a quick sell. This is also why he chose him.
The Republican senator from South Carolina, Lindsey Graham, expects Hagel to be the most anti-Israel defense secretary in U.S. history. Israel has many friends in the House of Representatives, and they will make sure to make their opinions heard before Hagel’s appointment is approved.
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) believes the appointment is “the worst possible message Obama could have sent to Israel and other allies in the Middle East.” We can add, as Sen. Graham said, “it’s also the message the White House is sending Iran, at the worst possible time.”
Why then has Obama chosen Chuck Hagel of all people? It’s enticing to think he did so to irritate Israel, but we shouldn’t give him that much credit.
Obama presented Hagel on Monday and outlined the reasons for selecting him. The U.S. president spoke of a warrior, one who lives and breathes the mud on the battlefield. Hagel is from there. Hagel is also someone who opposed, as did Obama, the war in Iraq. Hagel also joined Obama on tours of Afghanistan and Iraq. Obama doesn’t believe in war. Hagel believes in it even less. “War is the last resort,” is Hagel’s credo.
In a Utopian world filled only with good, there is a place for a defense secretary like Hagel. In a world where nuclear centrifuges spin without rest in dangerous countries like Iran, this is a Utopian selection for Secretary of Defense that, to our regret, has become the reality under Obama.
The French Foreign Ministry, the Quai d’Orsay, would for years say that even if by some mistake a pro-Israel foreign minister was appointed, then not to worry, the clerks at the ministry would be sure to “get him on track.” All that’s left for Israel is to hope that its many friends in Congress ensure the continuation of good relations.
4:01 pm
It is not irritations, annoyances, or paybacks with or to Israel or Netanyahu that motivates Obama, but a fundamental desire to allow the Muslim world to destroy Israel. He will not or cannot commit the U.S. to destroying Israel, itself, but he will do all in his power to disarm Israel and render it defenseless against those who would destroy it. It will be a long 4 years for Israel, if it can even survive that term of Obama’s presidency.
12:03 am
Is there much in the way of doubt that Barack Hussein is a closet Muslim? I think not especially after sitting in his church in Chicago over 20 years listening to the anti American, anti white and anti Jewish diatribes of his pastor. I am ashamed that supposed intelligent members of my Jewish faith voted for this atrocity.
1:07 pm
Please note: Hagel voted FOR the war in Iraq. The media ignore it, Michael Moore fibs about it, but it is true. So that is one less plausible excuse for Barry to have picked him. Looks like the ant-semitic, anti-Israel, pro-Iran thing may be the only thing.
3:29 am
Way to go Obama; you just ensured the War in the Middle East.
11:31 pm
As bad as Hagel would seem to be,it would be tough to for him to be worse than Casper Weinberger.
10:44 pm
“Why then has Obama chosen Chuck Hagel of all people? It’s enticing to think he did so to irritate Israel, but we shouldn’t give him that much credit.”
The writer cleverly inserted the sentence into his article without belabouring the point. In his own style of writing professionally, he backhandedly states what we all feel. At some level, this was done as a payback to Israel, done for his annoyances with Netanyahu, done because deep down (or not so deep) he doesn’t care for Israel. In fact, Hagel may be his next chess move in an attempt to do serious harm to Israel through her adversaries. I still believe that given the choice, Mr. Obama would rather go down in history as the man who helped bring down Israel rather than an average US President. Hope I’m wrong.
10:44 pm
Last time I looked Graham was a senator from SOUTH Carolina.