‘Holdup of Hagel’s appointment as Defense Sec. was public theater’
The US Senate has approved the appointment of Chuck Hagel as the next Secretary of Defense, after delays aimed at intimidating both him and the Obama administration, ‘Foreign Policy In Focus’ columnist Conn Hallinan told RT.
RT:Chuck Hagel endured through a bumpy road to
receive the long-awaited confirmation, do you think he can now
breathe a sigh of relief?
Conn Hallinan: I do think that what it showed was that the
Obama administration was willing to stick with Hagel on this, and
if you judge someone by whose enemies are, then I think this was a
step back from the, sort of, confrontational policies that the US
has followed throughout the past 10-12 years. I think… the
Secretary of Defense doesn’t make policy.
It doesn’t mean that the Secretary of Defense doesn’t have a major
voice in the establishment of policy. It’s one of the two most
important secretaries, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of
Defense; it’s really the two most important cabinet positions in
the United States. So, this is a step in the direction that I tend
to see as hopeful for ratcheting back some of the rhetoric around
Iran, and maybe even some possibilities of some sort of settlement
in the Israeli-Palestinian situation.
RT:Many were certain that Hagel would get the approval
despite the hurdles he had to overcome. So why did it have to be
delayed for so long?
CH: I think that the Republicans were trying to do two
things: One is they would throw as many roadblocks as they could up
against Obama, which makes it quite clear the Republican party has
made a decision to basically put their bodies on the railroad
tracks and to jam up the works as much as possible. This was an
opportunity to do that. But I think also it was a way to try to
intimidate both Hagel and the administration around the question of
Iran and around the question of Israel, so it was more public
theater, but a lot of politics in the United States is public
theater, so I think that was the goal they had in mind.
RT:Does this mean Obama is seeking a change in course,
picking someone with views that are not mainstream in
Washington?
CH: Certainly, he is not the mainstream Washington kind of
guy. He’s kind of old-fashioned conservative Republican, like the
ones they used to have, say, 30 years ago. In fact, he’s a lot like
the outgoing Secretary of Defense [Leon] Panetta. Panetta was, one
point, a Republican who became a Democrat because he couldn’t get
elected from his Congressional district without shifting parties. I
think they’re pretty much of the same mind.
I think Hagel is someone who has experienced war, he’s someone
who’s seen it face to face, someone who’s been wounded, he was an
enlisted man, he’s got some sympathy for what it is that the
soldiers are going through. And I think that he’s less tied to the
kind of big lobbying firms to the major corporations like Lockheed
Martin, and Bowing, and Taledyne, and Northrop Grumman, et cetera.
I think what you will see is someone who’s a lot more willing to go
after these high-price level programs which are not working out
very well, and which can be cut. He’s a guy who you kind of want to
buck lobbyists. Hagel isn’t a bad guy to do it with.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.