Chuck Hagel is not right for Secretary of Defense
We believe a newly elected President deserves to have the Cabinet he wants UNLESS the nominee’s views are out of touch with mainstream America, especially when it comes to our national security. Unfortunately, Obama has chosen former Senator Chuck Hagel who is simply wrong on a number of key national defense issues, and we ask the President to find a better choice or the U.S. Senate should reject him in their confirmation vote.
To defeat a cabinet nominee is never easy, especially when the incoming President enjoys widespread popularity – which is common right after an election for the public to rally around the President despite some that have misgivings. What it takes is for us to be able to educate Americans on why this choice is the wrong one. Would you help us get the word out?
There are a number of key issues on which Hagel is wrong. Standing up for Israel against a potentially nuclear-armed Iran is certainly near the top of the list. His opposition to designating violent Islamic groups as “terrorist organizations” is another. His passivity in accepting the dangerous cuts to the Defense Budget that sequestration may enact is an important third reason to oppose Hagel.
His position on a nuclear Iran is particularly disturbing. Iran should never be allowed to have nuclear weapons that it would likely use on its sworn enemy Israel as well as America’s military presence in the region.
President Barack Obama’s biggest challenge in foreign policy will be to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, which will start an arms race in the Middle East. Having a Secretary of Defense, who understands that, is paramount. Senator Hagel’s record doesn’t reflect that basic understanding that a nuclear Iran represents a threat to us that must be prevented at all costs.
Mr. Hagel’s record will lead the extremist mullahs in Tehran to question our resolve and test our commitment to preventing a nuclear capable Iran. Mr. Hagel served while Ronald Reagan was President. Why didn’t he learn that peace comes from strength, not appeasing our enemies?
Hagel has repeatedly sided against sanctions on Iran and even been unwilling to identify the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization, going so far as to ask for “direct, unconditional, and comprehensive talks” with an Iranian government who were actively supplying Shiite forces in Iraq with weapons to kill American soldiers.
Iran must know we are committed to the protection of Israel from nuclear threat; equally important Israel must know it too. Appointing someone to Secretary of Defense who has a long history of equating Israel morally to the Islamic militants at Hamas sends the wrong message to our ally. Hagel represents doubt in the minds of Israelis and their government of what America’s position is, while inviting the Iranians to engage in even more mischief against American interests.
We cannot afford to have a more aggressive and hostile Iran. They must know that America has a firm line that we will not allow to be breached. Please help us raise the money we need to start educating the American public before the Hagel nomination is rushed through.
Hagel’s critical views of sanctions and naively believing that direct talks with the world’s primary state sponsor of terror, Iran sends the wrong message of what US foreign Policy will be. Haven’t we learned our lesson in North Korea? Talking, talking, talking has done nothing to deter North Korea from developing nuclear weapons and missiles that could conceivably reach the western part of the United States, and certainly can hit our allies in South Korea, Taiwan and Japan.
His opposition to the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability and Divestment Act, a bill later signed by President Obama, is just one of the reasons Iran itself has endorsed Hagel’s nomination. Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast expressed support of the appointment of former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel to lead the Pentagon and they felt it would change their attitude towards the U.S. if it respected their rights.
We are never going to be so foolish as to allow an extremist, terrorist-sponsoring state like Iran to develop nuclear weapons that can be used against us and our allies. We cannot allow the discredited policies promoted by Senator Hagel to change US foreign policy in a way that Tehran wants.
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