Hagel’s Nomination Shows The Realist Agenda

Ali Rizk

So US president Barack Obama has nominated Chuck Hagel for the post of US Secretary of military affairs. This despite all the frenzy over the nomination of the former Nebraska Senator, particularly from the right wing pro-"Israeli" and neocon club.

Obama chose to stand his ground and confront the storm this time. Such a stance can be attributed to a variety of reasons:
First of all, it is worth taking into account the personal relationship factor between Obama and Hagel. This relationship goes back to when both men were Senators and shared the view of staunch opposition to the Bush administrations' war on Iraq. Indeed Hagel, although a Republican, endorsed Obama during the presidential race against John McCain and travelled with Obama during a presidential campaign trip in 2008 to Iraq and Afghanistan. Since then Hagel has served as an advisor for the American president.

So, it is relatively safe to assume that a lot of the policies that Obama outlines (engagement with Iran, leading from behind, and a simple overall new American approach) are partly a result of what he has heard from people like Chuck Hagel. Christopher Preble of the Cato Institute, a prominent think tank in Washington gives an appropriate description saying: "I think Obama picked Hagel because he likes and trusts him"
Second is that Obama would not have went ahead were he not confident that a Hagel appointment would be confirmed by Congress. It is true that a vicious assault was launched against Hagel by the extremist pro-"Israeli" neocon movement, but prominent and well respected voices in Washington have broken ranks with such an approach and strongly endorsed Hagel. Such voices include former national security advisors Zbigniew Bregenski and Brent Snowcroft, former ambassador Ryan Crocker and renowned columnist Thomas Friedman.

Such support, together with the fact that Hagel is considered a war hero who still bares the wounds of Vietnam will make it hard to block his nomination.(particularly the latter factor where the "service to our country" is considered a red line in Washington). Obama himself appeared to recognize this factor, stating during his announcement of nominating Hagel that "Chuck Hagel's leadership of our military would be historic," "He'd be the first person of enlisted rank to serve as secretary of defense, one of the few secretaries who've been wounded in war, and the first Vietnam veteran to lead the department. Chuck bears the scars and the shrapnel from the battles he fought in our name," Obama said.

But most important of all by sticking to his choice Obama has made it clear where his priorities lie. By nominating Hagel, Obama is conveying the message that he believes the 66 year old war veteran is the best choice to implement the American withdrawal from Afghanistan which is set for the end of 2014, and to implement the decrease in US defense spending as one of the measures to deal with the ailing US economy, and to put together better programs for US war veterans.

These issues, along with staying away from unilateral, unnecessary military adventures are Obama's priorities and what the "Israeli" government or its supporters in Washington think is irrelevant. The policies pursued by the US over the past decade have led to the American decline and thus the time has come for change and realism for the sake of US interests themselves.
The Chuck Hagel nomination shows that realism will be the dominant factor over the coming years in Washington.

This will not go down well with the "Israeli" government and co but as the last US presidential elections have shown, "Israel" no longer has the strength it used to in Washington when the high majority of American Jews voted for Obama despite the clear support of Netanyahu and AIPAC for his rival. So anticipate more tension between what is expected to be an even more far right Netanyahu cabinet after the "Israeli" elections later this month and an Obama administration who's focus will be on enhancing US INTERESTS regardless of what "Israel" thinks. Nowhere will this tension be more evident than on Iran, where the new Obama administration will surely not take any steps that are not line with US interests and the realist approach.

Source: moqawama.org