E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSFormer Secretary of State Colin Powell said on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday that President Barack Obama’s nominee to be defense secretary, former Sen. Chuck Hagel, was “superbly qualified” and would be a strong advocate for Americans in uniform.
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell visits Meet the Press to discuss the nomination of Chuck Hagel to become defense secretary, the administration's policies in Afghanistan and the evolution of the Republican Party.
“This is a guy who would be very careful about putting their lives at risk because he put his life at risk,” Powell told NBC’s David Gregory.
Hagel, who was seriously wounded while serving as an Army infantryman in Vietnam, was a Republican senator from Nebraska from 1997 to 2009.
Related: Israel avoids public spat with Obama over Chuck Hagel defense nomination
“He knows what war is and he will fight a war if it’s necessary, but he’s a guy who will do it with great deliberation and care,” Powell said.
Like Hagel, Powell served in Vietnam. He later was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff before serving as secretary of state under George W. Bush. He endorsed Obama’s candidacy in 2008 and in last year’s campaign.
Even before Obama announced the Hagel nomination last week, it came under fire. The Washington Post editorial page opposed him for not supporting economic sanctions against Iran.
Powell said Hagel does not rule out the use of military force against Iran. “I think what Chuck Hagel has said is that nothing is ever off the table. But he is one who believes in the prospects for negotiation.”
Some supporters of Israel have chided Hagel for saying “the Jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people up here (on Capitol Hill).”
Powell said, “Chuck should have said ‘Israeli lobby,’ not ‘Jewish lobby.’ Perhaps he needs to write on a blackboard a hundred times, ‘It is the Israeli lobby.’”
Former Secretary of State Colin Powell and Sen. John McCain make strong statements, Sunday, regarding the nomination of Chuck Hagel as U.S. secretary of defense. NBC's Peter Alexander reports.
Powell said Hagel is “a very, very strong supporter of the state of Israel” but “that doesn’t mean you have to agree with every single position that the Israeli government takes.”
If Hagel is confirmed by the Senate, part of his job will be to scale back the $630 billion Pentagon budget. As for Hagel’s comment that the military is “bloated,” Powell said if there are unnecessary parts of the military, then “I hope he does find bloat – and gets rid of it.”
As a senator, Hagel voted for the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, but later was harshly critical of Bush’s conduct of the operation. In 2007 Hagel said “before this (Iraq intervention) is over, you might see calls for his impeachment."
Hagel also opposed Bush’s Iraq surge strategy in 2007, calling it "the most dangerous foreign-policy blunder in this country since Vietnam.”
But Powell on Sunday firmly defended Bush’s 2003 decision to order the invasion of Iraq and his own role as secretary of state in advocating for that invasion.
Bush in 2003 “had more than sufficient basis to believe that there were weapons of mass destruction that were a danger to the world… and so he undertook a military action. I think that was the correct thing to do,” Powell said.
But he added, “We did not execute the operation well,” since the fall of Baghdad in 2003 “was just the beginning” of a prolonged peacekeeping operation.
Despite his support for Obama, Powell said, “I’m still a Republican,” but he delivered a prolonged criticism of the Republican Party, rebuking the hawks in the party. “They’ve lost two elections. The American people have made it clear that they are not particularly interested in finding new conflicts to get into.”
“I think what the Republican Party needs to do now is to take a very hard look at itself” and at the attitude of some Republicans toward ethnic minorities, he said, accusing unnamed Republicans of “intolerance” and “(looking) down at minorities.”
Powell criticized – although did not identify by name -- former New Hampshire governor John Sununu, who served as chief of staff for President George H. W Bush and as an aide to 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney, for calling Obama “lazy” after his first debate performance and 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin for using the phrase “shuck and jive” in criticizing Obama’s explanation of the administration’s response to attack on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi.
Since Obama nominated Hagel last week to succeed Leon Panetta as defense secretary, the administration has been trying to bolster support for the nomination in the face of criticism from Senate Republicans such as Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, both members of the Armed Services Committee which will conduct Hagel’s confirmation hearing later this month.
In comments on another Sunday morning program, another Republican on the Armed Services Committee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that “I honor Chuck Hagel’s service” and “he’s a friend,” but questioned “whether he really believes that the surge was the worst blunder since the Vietnam War. That clearly is not correct – in fact, it’s bizarre.”
He also criticized Hagel for not supporting a move to label the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. McCain said he wasn’t announcing how he’d vote on the nomination but wanted to hear Hagel’s responses to questions during his confirmation hearing.
Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., also a member of the Armed Services Committee, said on Fox News Sunday "it perplexes me why the president nominated Sen. Hagel."
She said some statements from the Iranian government “that were favorable to his nomination. In fact, they said they were hopeful that with his nomination, they hoped that we would change our policies. What I want to make sure is that Iran is actually not hopeful, but they're fearful” of the secretary of defense because “that will cause them to stop marching toward acquiring a nuclear weapon."
Taking a noncommittal stance on Hagel’s nomination is a leading Senate Democrat, Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, who on Meet the Press on Dec. 23 passed up the chance to support him.
Last week, Schumer told WHEC, the NBC affiliate in Rochester, N.Y., that “before I make any determination, it is only fair to sit down and talk with him and ask him some very serious questions about his views on Iran, on the Middle East, on the military in general.”
But in the end it’s highly unlikely that Schumer, a member of the Senate Democratic leadership, would embarrass Obama by opposing Hagel.
Leave a Comment:
The bone-headed Republicians continue to be hoodwinkled by RINO's like Powell, and Hagel. When will they ever learn??????????
With all apologies to the mundane remarks made by my the majority of my predecessors on the last few pages...
Hmmmm....Colin Powell endorses Obama's selection of Hagel as Secretary of Defense.
Can you say Clinton/Powell in 2016?
That would cause a Democratic landslide, the biggest in history. The GOP might win 1/2 of Rhode Island.
Powell has stated before he would not run for Presidential ticket, but I do expect Clinton will.
It's Clinton's if she wants it. I don't hink she does at the moment, but that could change.
She'd need to make sure to keep the interns out of the White House. Hopefully she would not do anything to get impeached as well.
I think it will depend on a few things but obviously more than just these two simplistic examples. State of the country at the end of Obama's term & who the GOP puts up as the candidate.
Well, I was really think more of the primary. It's hard to predcit what the mood will be for the general election in 2016.
And we care what Powell says? NOT! Hagel was picked to carry out the Obummer agenda. He won't make policy, Obummer will. And it is.....Punish Israel.......Reduce the Military until we are weak and not a major power..........Let Iran continue it's nuclear program.......carry out Obummer's socialist agenda wherever possible.
Colon Powell is a F***ing idiot and I'm trying to be nice.
Republican on here either have a short memory or are all young.
Some of you lambast Powell for "lying" that he's a conservative. If you watched the whole interview even if you went in ignorant, you'd have heard Powell characterise himself as a MODERATE.
See, until ten years ago you could be a MODERATE and be a REPUBLICAN. Studies in fact show that over the last 30 yrs the Dems in Congress have stayed about the same or moved slightly to the center but the REpublicans have tacked FAR to the right on average. The conservative "score" of current 'moderate Republicans" like Olympia Snowe is IDENTICAL to the rating of the AVERAGE Republican from the 1980s! Reagan raised taxes many times (and some times later he cut them). Reagan put though spending bills for stimulus to get over the recession during his first term! He spent money to create jobs..the same exact proposals that are common during recessions that the Republican House will not now pass!
I'm a Dem. It used to be when Republicans won a Presidential election I and other Dems would be dissapointed but most didn't think the country would go far off track and be ruined or changed completely. G HW Bush was reasonably moderate. Even his son was more moderate than these people in power now (though the neocon foreign policy is scary to most Dems).
Powell is what Republicans used to be. And to the person who says Powell supports Obama 'cause he's Black..yeh right. And he supports Hagel 'cause he's White...oh er no because he didn't support McCain who's white...but Wait! He didn't support Jesse Jackson who's Black. when he ran for President...
hmm...maybe the former Secretary of State actually is a patriot and has some drive to choose to support the people HE THINKS ARE BEST FOR THE COUNTRY. That would make sense. He's a retired four star general. Hmmm...maybe he does care about the country and that could motivate his choice.
Other evidence (snarK): Powell in this interview says he's a moderate. Hagel too is a moderate Republican. Why would it be a surprise then that he supports Hagel who's he KNOWS and LIKES and has the same moderate Republican (endangered species) politics?
Occums' Razor in science says that oftentimes the most obvious answer is the correct one. To people with a taint of racisim, subconcious or not, the first thing they see about Powell is his COlor so they think that's the most obvious reason why Powell would support a Black person like Obama. But no...the most significant, basic, obvious thing since Powell the individual likely (former 4 star general and secretary of state) doens't think of his race first is that he picks people that he thinks are right for the country 'cause he cares about the country. Such people lkely have similar politics to him. Like Hagel
ONe can't but help wonder at what colors Powell's thinking.
Bill in Committee to Allow Obama's Third and Fourth Terms
01/08/13
It seems like Jose Serrano is trying to reintroduce a bill that would amend the Constitution and allow any president to serve for an unlimited period of time. That includes Barack Obama.
If he were to serve forever, then he'd be King.
From theDC:
Read more at #p0eD3RRUFWCbmT7r.99
I'm sure such bills have been introduced many times. There is nothing undemocratic about letting the people decide.
Bush wanted it more than anyone....
"I do not like dictators, unless I am the dictator"
SinisterMan...
Please respect a fellow vet...regardless of branch of service. This is still America, and we respect one another who served or are serving.
All respect for those who show respect.
If someone is a vet, or even claims to be one....they should be given the benefit of the doubt, and respected.
There are many who claim a lot of things that are not true...that is their problem, not mine. But, one someone says they are serving, or have served, they always get a thank you.
Hello all you good people. Just a couple lines from me tonight. I have my own victory to make me happy. When a client calls you up on Sunday to say it is a done deal You know he means it. Glory to America and the people who actually care about oue people. This makes me realize not only greedy corporate bottom feeeders can thrive off America but also the people who care about our country. The Halliburtons and HGB that poison are world and soldiers are going to be extinguished because real Americans realize that greed is going to far.
Rude people saying crude things they Know nothing about. Thats one way to become a Republican.
Follow the Fox rule listen often , become a parrot.
I may be hiring soon in the Chicagoland area. You might be one of five. Open liberal minds only accepted. Unless you are tired of the BS.
You are the voice of reason for who? the undecided idiot that still can't make up his mind to follow corporate billionaires or people who care about people. If you are undecided now you are just totally brain dead or Brainwashed.
I never show disdain for our veterans,only for those who try to brainwash them or poison them like Dick Chaneys halliburton Or HGB. Get a clue and see who does not give a dogs Dick Chaney about you.
Republicans destroying America one brain cell at a time. Now our troops are suffering from the worst medical issues even worse than Agent Orange. All these Fox idiots still believe this crap no matter how far fetched it is.
May the New Person Mr. Hagel do his job more efficiently and effectively. May God Bless him in his new job and protect him. GOD Bless the Americans. GOD BLESS THE USA.
Kevin Valentine Moraes
Mira Road (Thane)
I always liked Powell but I never trusted him and now I'm being proven right, He's biting the hand that fed him.
I am telling the truth. Somethings until the near future you will never hear in corporate media. Why Because Billionaires pay millionaires to spew garbage like , You can't tax the Rich. How stupid have our people become? I used to be a republican. Good old Ronald Lit me up. Now thirty plus years later, the middle class wages went up by .7 % while the 1% went up 275%. Call me stupid or is this a hypocrisy?
Sinister get some Knowledge behind you posts.
No one attacked you....I pointed out you were wrong for belittling a veteran. And that, my friend, is simple true. As brothers-in-arms, what you said was wrong.
I have agreed with you on many things, but to disparage a vet, is wrong.
And now, you criticize God?
i met MR. POWELL twice, once during Desert Storm and once at a hotel in Orlando. of course he is going to endorse Hagel, he is Obama's yes man.
You know where I am at. I am looking for a fourth employee. I don't pay Walmart or work for less states wages. We need others who believe Americans come first to post jobs here.
what type of business do you have?
please answer, as i want to know the name of your business.
or are you just a story teller of lies
Againt
You really think he is as stupid as you and would post the name of his business?
Get real!
After reading these post, its no wonder repubs keep losing elections. This article is about Powell opinion of the new age GOP which most american feel the same about if you been living under a rock over the past few years. You guys are out dated and still living in the days of Leave it to Beaver. Tanx god you guy are a dying breed and don't even realize it. Some will say he only voted for Obama because he's black. I ask why did millions of COLLEGE educated people voted for him them? Its simple you guy just spread lies about Obama and since day one its been the GOP's goal to destruct his term. Remember the 13 terrorist meet to make a pact to detroy the economy and make him a one term president? Well one part work but Obama is still here, so deal with it and stop acting like bitches
I met God on my way to Sunday school and in his words he did reply I'm not the kind you have got to wind up on Sunday. (Jethro Tull).
Sinsister is your new name. Hey mama what makes you so braindead.