Why Chuck Hagel Will Be a Great Secretary of 'Defense'

Former Senator Chuck Hagel will bring a fresh and necessary perspective to the office of Secretary of Defense for which he was confirmed today.  Contrary to recent sound bites in especially the conservative Establishment, where he was grilled by AIPAC-owned Senators, this video shows the real Chuck Hagel taking his Senate Foreign Relations colleagues to task during the Iraq "surge" policy being implemented by the Bush administration.  As a republican he dared to challenge directly the typical politically-correct (but superficial) propaganda that criticized any dissent from Bush foreign policy, which ironically was continued under Obama.  Democrats could compare him to the late Sen. Robert Byrd who led dissent about Iraq among democrats when it was politically-incorrect too.

Watch this and see for yourself.  This is what courage and virtue looks like in the politically-charged mudslinging of Washington and Congress.  Hagel is unafraid and very much concerned about the deployment of the men and women in the military who have no voice or advocate normally to defend their lives and interests when the passion to start or expand wars begins.  He chastises his Senate colleagues with authority and demands they consider what is really at stake and whether the comprehensive strategy is even sound during a time where propaganda and personal attacks are tossed about to intimidate and force a false patriotic "unity" behind a flawed but popular war policy that others are too afraid to challenge.

If this does not demonstrate his sound judgment and soberness of mind when making war decisions versus the neoconservative and AIPAC-funded political attacks against his nomination for Secretary of Defense recently then I am speechless.  This decorated veteran and astute Senator and statesman is fully qualified and greatly needed to check and restrain the hasty and easily influenced U.S. foreign policy that we have witnessed for over a decade now.  Neither will he be a lap dog republican for Obama, but will likely restrain any more actions of this President to rush into further Middle East involvement (e.g. Libya, regime change, nation building) without sober objections, especially if they involve U.S. troops.

It is supposed to be a Department of Defense, not a Department of Offense, after all.  Four courageous and thoughtful republicans supported his nomination, from the South and Midwest, including Tea Party favorite Sen. Rand Paul (see link above), who also advocates (along with Sen. Joe Manchin) auditing the Pentagon to uncover its mysterious wasting and loss of billions of dollars (see previous posts), which has been no small contributor to the fiscal debt problem.