22 January 2013
DEFENSE: Chuck Hagel has the opportunity to change government policies.
By Emilie Bean, Opinions Editor
On January 8, President Barack Obama appointed former Senator Chuck Hagel as America’s new Secretary of Defense. Usually, Republicans would be jumping for joy to see one of their own moving up in rank, but they are the ones most against Hagel. The Log Cabin Republicans have released a full-page ad in the Washington Post opposing him. This ad by the conservative gay rights group criticizes Hagel’s record on issues of LGBT equality. However, this is not the real reason the Republicans have their knickers in a twist. LGBT equality is just the cherry on top of the sundae that is Israel.
Hagel explained that his positions on Israel have been “completely distorted,” though he does concede that he has also “questioned some very cavalier attitudes taken about very complicated issues in the Middle East.”
Republicans have used Hagel’s stance on Israel to target him, but is it not about time we changed our views on Israel? Hagel could be just the thing America needs. The Netanyahu government believes that Israel is entitled to anything it wants from Washington, but with Hagel around, they are in for a surprise. We need to rethink our approach to Israel. It is based upon a theology that many Americans no longer practice: Christianity. Our foreign policies should not be rooted in scripture, anyway.
One of the most prominent figures in the fight against Hagel is Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Graham said that Hagel would be the “most antagonistic secretary of Defense toward the state of Israel in our nation’s history.” Later she also added, “I’ll have a hard time voting for anybody to be Secretary of Defense who believes the surge was a foreign policy blunder.” She was referring to Hagel’s criticism of former President George W. Bush’s decision to surge the troops in Iraq. Though, shouldn’t we be mad about getting into war with Iraq in the first place? As a Vietnam veteran, Hagel understands all about meaningless wars.
Hagel once said, “Peace comes through dealing with people. Peace doesn’t come at the end of a bayonet or the end of a gun.” That sounds like the man fit for the job of Secretary of Defense. It sounds better than a trigger-happy war hawk. Americans need to take a step back and think before we shoot; the “action now, questions later” policy is not really working for us. Hagel is the right man for the job. Some just may not realize it yet.