Chuck Hagel 'Manifestly Unsuitable' to Be Secretary of Defense

by Vincent Zafonte, Heritage Foundation: Last week, the Senate decided to temporarily block former Sen. Chuck Hagel’s nomination to be Secretary of Defense. There were many reasons why the Senate blocked his nomination, The Heritage Foundation’s expert James Carafano explains:

Simply put, Senator Hagel lacks the necessary executive skills and experience, embraces naïve and dangerous foreign policies, and empathizes with sworn foes, all while showing antipathy toward loyal allies (i.e. Israel). This makes him manifestly unsuitable for this critical position.

If confirmed, Hagel would have undermined key national security measures. Carafano elaborates:

The Secretary of Defense must “know your enemy.” Hagel has trouble sorting out America’s enemies from our friends. He has advocated engagement and dialogue with Iran and Syria—an approach that the Obama Administration has pursued for four years that has accomplished absolutely nothing on behalf of our security or that of the Iranian and Syrian peoples. Both these countries have been and continue to be major state sponsors of terrorism.

Hagel has also spoken against our greatest ally in the Middle East, Israel. Carafano points out that Hagel, “has spoken offensively and ignorantly of our most steadfast democratic ally in the region— Israel.”

The decision not to advance Hagel was a good one for the country – but was it done for the right reasons? Some in the Senate just wanted to make a point to the Obama administration, and say Hagel is likely to be confirmed shortly.

Some Senators voted against Hagel as a way of pressuring the Obama administration to answer many troubling questions about the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya. Carafano reminds us, though, that there’s more at stake than politics: “Certainly the Senate and the American people deserve to know what happened in Benghazi and why. But that knowledge should not be purchased at the price of installing an unsuitable candidate as the Secretary of Defense.”

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