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Subscribe to RSSUpdated at 5:53 p.m. ET – Former Sen. Chuck Hagel, President Barack Obama’s choice to be secretary of defense, finished a day-long marathon confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday, enduring nearly eight hours of testy and skeptical questions from Republicans.
At the start of Thursday’s hearing, it seemed nearly certain that the Senate would vote to confirm Hagel. But the nominee labored at certain points during the day to clarify and explain his comments. Whether his occasional stumbles were serious enough to jeopardize his confirmation was not clear by the end of the testimony.
There are 55 senators in the Democratic caucus and 45 Senate Republicans, so if there’s no filibuster, Hagel would seem assured of confirmation. The last time the Senate rejected a Cabinet nominee was in 1989 when there was a Republican president and a Democratic-controlled Senate.
Republican senators confronted Hagel with quotations from statements he had made months or years ago – and sometimes he apologized for them or amended them.
Late in the day Sen. Mike Lee, R- Utah, asked Hagel whether he’d said in 2003 that Israel keeps Palestinians “caged up like animals” and whether he still believes that.
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“Like many things I’ve said, I would like to go back and change the words and the meaning,” Hagel told Lee. “If I had a chance to go back and edit it, I would. I regret that I used those words.”
But he said he’d made his statement “in a larger context … (addressing) the frustration in what’s happening (in Israel) which is not in Israel’s interest” and mentioned the need “to find ways that we can help bring peace and security to Israel.”
Quizzed by both Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., and Sen. David Vitter, R- La., on a statement he’d made calling the Iranian government a “legitimate” one, Hagel said, “I should have said ‘recognized’ instead of ‘legitimate.’”
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., grills Secretary of Defense nominee Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., on his opposition to the 2007 troop surge in Iraq.
At one point he told Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R- Ga., regarding U.S. policy toward Iran’s efforts to build nuclear weapons: “I’ve just been handed a note that I misspoke and said I supported the president’s position on ‘containment.’ If I said that, I meant to say that obviously – his position on containment – we don’t have a position on containment.”
Hagel then said, “I’ve had more attention paid to my words in the last eight weeks than I ever thought possible.”
This prompted Armed Services Committee chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D- Mich., to intervene, “Just to make sure your correction is clear, we do have a position on containment – which is we do not favor containment.” Hagel quickly concurred with Levin’s statement.
Hagel told the panel in his opening remarks that he is “fully committed to the president's goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” and that “all options must be on the table to achieve that goal. My policy is one of prevention, and not one of containment and the President has made clear that is the policy of our government.”
At another point, Hagel, explaining his criticism quoted in a 2008 book by Aaron David Miller, of “the Jewish lobby” and his allegation that “it intimidates a lot of people” in Congress – comments for which Hagel has apologized – said he ought to not have used the word “intimidates.”
“I should have used ‘influence,’” he said.
Later, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R- S.C., challenged Hagel to “name one dumb thing we’ve been goaded into doing” by the pro-Israel lobby or to identify one member of Congress whom the pro-Israel lobby had intimidated. Hagel said, “I didn't have in mind a single person," and did not identify any policy the U.S. government had been goaded into.
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, played Hagel a recording of an interview Hagel did in 2009 with an al Jazeera program. A listener submitted a question asking about “the image of the United States is that of the world’s bully” and whether the United States needed “to change the perception and the reality” before asking other nations to reduce their arsenals. In that 2009 program Hagel began his reply by saying, “Her observation is a good one … .”
NBC's Kelly O'Donnell reports on the latest from Chuck Hagel's confirmation hearing.
When Cruz asked Hagel to explain this reply, he said Thursday, “I think my comment was it was a relevant and good observation. I don’t think I said that I agree with it.”
Early in the testimony, the Iraq war and President George W. Bush’s 2007 surge of U.S. troops into Iraq became the heated focus of the hearing.
Sen. John McCain, R- Ariz., repeatedly pressed Hagel, a fellow Vietnam War veteran, on whether he had been right or wrong to say that the 2007 surge was “the most dangerous foreign policy blunder since Vietnam.”
When McCain angrily said “Will you please answer the question?” Hagel told McCain “I’m not going to give you a yes or no answer … I’ll defer that judgment to history.”
When McCain shot back that Hagel had been wrong about the surge, Hagel said his “most dangerous blunder” comment had been “not just about the 2007 surge but the overall war of choice going into Iraq” in 2003.
As a senator, Hagel voted for the congressional resolution authorizing Bush to invade Iraq, but later turned critical of Bush’s conduct of the operation.
Other Republicans on the committee repeatedly pressed Hagel on his support for endorsement of Global Zero, the movement calling for abolition of nuclear weapons by 2030.
Hagel served on the Global Zero U.S. Nuclear Policy Commission which issued a report last May calling for an 80 percent reduction in the U.S. nuclear arsenal.
Hagel told ranking Republican committee member Sen. Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma that his position “has never been unilateral disarmament.”
Kevin Lamarque / Reuters
Former Senator Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., testifies during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on his nomination to be Defense Secretary, on Capitol Hill, Jan. 31, 2013.
And he said the Global Zero report was discussing “illustrative possibilities” and “scenarios” and wasn’t urging specific policies.
But last May’s Global Zero report, which Hagel signed on to, says that a drastically smaller U.S. arsenal could be negotiated bilaterally with Russia – “or implemented unilaterally.”
In his opening statement Hagel pledged that he would maintain an effective nuclear arsenal. “America's nuclear deterrent over the last 65 years has played a central role in ensuring global security and the avoidance of a World War III. I am committed to modernizing our nuclear arsenal,” he said.
Hagel, who was seriously wounded while serving as an Army infantryman in Vietnam, was a Republican senator from Nebraska from 1997 to 2009 but did not support Republican presidential candidates McCain in 2008 or Mitt Romney last year.
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Time for the old wrecked Ace to retire.
He is taking up valuable resources,and a younger senator is being robbed to serve AZ the right way.
Old man,John,Mclame
Please domthe country a favor and step down.Im tired of your little,arms dangling ,and your crazy talk.
Chuck you just have to remember how to speak out of both sides of your mouth at the same time like the repub senators, to get through their BS questioning. This is great to see repubs turn on their own leaders of the past, they will split up their own party and it won't be around long enough for Boehner's prediction that Obama will try to annihilate it. It already has two heads mutated outward like cell division, and maybe more soon that just are not going to stay on the same body. Their party is the small scale example of what they want of the whole government system, which is 'falling apart to anarchy' as the goal - that is why they don't want to fund gov programs that help the poor and middle class.
McCain says Susan Rice is unqualified for Sec of State......
But he picked Sarah Palin for VP?
hhahahahahahhahahahahhahahahahhaha
SNL did a skit where Tina Fey quoted her verbatim..........
Didn't have to make up a skit......
No comedy writers............Just used her own words and it was a hilarious joke on her.
They want to see a Lobotomy Scar before they will vote for anyone or pick their running mates.
Sarah Palin is living in Arizona now. Maybe she and John can get a helicopter and go hunt illegal Mexicans.
When palin went to US tour to see what is going on in places other than Alaska, she visited UN in NewYork.
Some news quoted her saying," There are a lot of foreigners over there". I am not sure if Palin was joking or she was misquoted to make fun of her, but , I believed she said it.
This is what Senile Mc cain believed in...
I mean palin is a gorgeous woman, i would love to date her. But I would not want her to make a decision even in choosing a toilet paper for the country..
Her portfolio now includes foreign relations expertise in Mexico as well, besides Russian expertise she gained through looking over the horizon in Alaska..
It's painful to watch the Republicans eat their own. Deb Fischer from Corn Cob, Nebraska is an expert in military matters, how?
Hagel will be confirmed, no doubt, albeit after several stormy speaches. He is the wrong choice for such a sensitive post, and together with Kerry he will put the country in a weak and inferior position. His views on opposition to Israel and Syria, but support of Iran and North Korea tells me a lot. We MUST stay out of Syria or another theocratic dictatorship of Iran and Egypt are in the works.
Also, his past negative comments about gays bother me as well, it is significant now that we have gays and women in the military.
Hagel is a TRUE AMERICAN., not an Israeli/jew puppet.
I hope he isn't a true American,but,I,m sure he isn't.Most likely a closet muslim.
sicktired - You are sick and we are tired of your racist comments. Hagel is likely against Israeli policies but not a jew hater as you are in your sick remarks.
Its only YOU who does not like what I say..
How dare you question an American hero, just because he does not kiss israeli butt?
Shame on you and all those republican retards.
Get married to sean hannity or rush limbaugh or Glenn beck. If you are lesbian, get a date with palin.
And why is it that we need to lick Benjamin Netanyahu’s boots anyway or the whole Israeli nation for that matter?
And why is it that we need the absolutely obscene military deployment we have, defend our freedom you say? Freedom from whom, is any nation threatening to invade our borders?
Insane McCain.............another whining republican has been. Someone should light a nuke under his ass. Better yet, someone should change his sex and send this idiot to Iraq to live with the other female slaves. Why don't you and Palin run on the 2016 ticket.................we all need a good laugh you sorry SOB.
Chuck, just tell them you will ask Dick Cheney to be your chief of staff and only adivsor, and Rumsfeld will be his backup.
Why do we have 163 foreign bases ?? Many of which are in Germany, and we say the cold war is over. How many bases do we have on the Rio Grande ? Answer - one near there by El Paso. Obama wants to fight Colonialism, Communism and Al-Qaeda in Africa, and few know we have boots on the ground in seven countries there. The command/control of which is based in Kenya. His hidden agenda will come to light soon enough. he's just like his daddy as to politics. (who was Kenyan). Hagel fits his bill.
" The Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA) was created in October 2002 to conduct naval and aerial patrols in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the eastern Indian Ocean as part of the effort to detect and counter the activities of terrorist groups in the region. The CJTF-FOA used military facilities in Kenya as well as in Djibouti and Ethiopia to launch air and naval strikes against alleged al-Qaeda members involved in the Council of Islamic Courts in Somalia in January and June of 20"
http://concernedafricascholars.org/african-security-research-project/?p=3
Note the date.
This was established during the Bush administration.
Funny how you have no references to back up anything you claim.
Hank - I suppose you make the argument that Libya, Egypt, Mali, Rwanda and Sudan were all in 2002 ??? I never said he (Obama) started it. I do believe it is certainly his agenda for his second term, however and that arguement certainly supported by the actions of his first term.
Your Kenyan reference is still BS, no matter how much you try to distract from it.
Why the H is John Mccain still involved in U.S. politics. When someone runs for President and loses why would he be allowed to get back into position to undermine and obstruct the man who beat him? If a Democrat said the sky is blue John Mccain would say no no no its red.
We all know that John Mccain has a war first questions later agenda so why is this madman still involved ion our political process. He is exactly what is wrong with Washington.
He is the canidate with the pilled up trophy wife and he is also the canidate who couldnt quite remember how many homes he owned. This is the man who we want asking questions? Wow
McCain begain his comments with the following:
“Senator Hagel this...members of this committee will raise questions reflecting concerns with you policy positions. THEY’RE NOT REASONABLE PEOPLE disagreeing. They’re fundamental disagreements.”
It's good to see his admission that those opposing the nomination are not reasonable people.
McCain would probably prefer Sarah Palin for the position.
Why don't you libs question the guy that's going to be the next Secretary of Defense? Oh wait, can't do that. Can't question ANYTHING that Obama wants. After all, he's so perfect that he can't make a mistake and pick an INCOMPETENT @ss for Secretary of Defense.
Instead, let's attack the people ASKING THE QUESTIONS. Isn't that the liberal mantra after all? If anyone actually asks a question that libs don't like, then attack the questioner and defend the moron that isn't HONEST enough to answer.
Interesting that Hagel can't simply say he was WRONG about the surge and actually be HONEST. But then again, what can you expect from another dishonest Obama shoe licker.
McCain asked the RIGHT question and Hagel didn't have the GUTS to actually answer HONESTLY. And this is what you libs want as the person that is in charge of this nation's defense after our Failure in Chief? Yeah, great call.
I've listened to him backtrack on nearly EVERYTHING that he wrote in his book, to the point of even talking about his co-author and attempting to tell the committee how his co-author supports him? Why wouldn't he??? He helped him write the dam book!!
But now that he actually has to answer questions on his book, he's suddenly saying he should have "worded it differently". It's a BOOK!!! He had all the time he needed to word it EXACTLY the way he wanted to. And now that he's called on the carpet for it he's making it sound like he didn't "really mean" what HE HIMSELF WROTE!
Like I said, another dishonest Obama shoe licker.
And how much GOP ass have you licked?
Should we wait for you to stop licking GOP ass to respond?
ahahahhahahahahahhahahahhahahahahahhahahah
Let Senator Hagel answer the questions!! Yes the surge was helpful, but MAYBE Senator hagel was correct in saying we should never have been in Iraq in the first place!!
This is the second time I've heard McCain step all over a "fellow Viet Nam Vet". He did nothing to try to help Kerry when he was swift-boated (Kerry won the Silver Star on the ground in Nam), and now he jumps all over Hagel and tries to bully him into answering a Yes/No question, turning his testimony into an interrogation. I wish someone would ask McCain why he volunteered to stay in prison in North Vietnam when they were going to release him. Yes/No Senator: Did you believe it would help you later in your political aspirations? As far as I know McCain never set foot in South Vietnam, he got shot down while flying a jet, then was a POW. If he did set foot in the south, where all the action was taking place on the ground, it was on an air base, which were the most secured areas we had.
I think it's time for him to pack it in, he rolled over and played dead against Obama (after selecting the bimbette as VP), probably thinking it would be his turn in 2013. Surprise, surprise.
It was a SIMPLE yes/no question.
Seems like the vast MAJORITY of this nation, including the left, KNOWS that the surge worked and ended the major fighting in Iraq.
Why doesn't Hagel have to GUTS to answer honestly? Even if he THINKS that it didn't work, at least answer HONESTLY that he didn't think it did.
Oh that's right, he's going to work for Obama, so NOT answering questions honestly, but instead attempting to change the question around to something else, is the "correct" way to answer and and all questions.
And you libs actually support this CORRUPT garbage.
Any individual capable of extrapolation thought knows that there is no simple "yes" or "no" answer to McCain's question, and that Hagel was entirely correct in saying that history will determine the answer. Whether or not the Iraq surge was “the most dangerous foreign policy blunder since Vietnam” has both a short and long term element, as does every action our government takes.
Cheryl, my comment was made as a Viet Nam vet. You might want to forget the "lib" bullcrap. You obviously don't know anything about the process involved in senate confirmation hearings, and also nothing about war and combat. Yes/no questions NEVER get a yes/no answer because they are always loaded questions or outright set-ups. McCain is a loser, was born with a silver spoon, got himself shot down flying a jet and then refused to go home when his time was up, rolled over and played dead against Obama because he knew he was losing, and losing badly.
Oh, and it SEEMS that the majority of this nation KNOWS that we were in Iraq in the first place based on the lies and deceit of the administration of Bush/Cheney.
Oh,where does the bullcrap end,two?
Ever notice the angry loser tea bagger types,all sound the same?
A sore loser is a real loser,,after all they lost in 2008,2012,and next up,2016 oh well you clowns won't be missed.
In the midterms,and and every two years,we the people will be removing the tea Taliban and the grandpa party,of serial fools
A better America is here.
Mccain, please. Give it up. We all know you are playing for reelection in a state still with a Tea Party. For the rest ofus you will go down in history as the man who gave us Sarah Palin. That's your sad legacy.
John McCain never looked more like the bitter, petulant, irrelevant little old man he's become than he did at that hearing.
The far right / neocons will continue to give SNL more and more material, so much that NBC will need a new show dedicated just to SNL politics skits, could be hosted by Colbert. Philosophy classes could use their policies and statements for current events analysis to demonstrate flaws and inconsistencies in logic and reasoning.
Times have changed,the GOP have not ,,,lmao
I like Hagel, I like that he doesent try and appease all the crazy Zionists in
our Government. The media is so bias towards Israel thats its sickening.
The truth has no place in these discussions regarding Israel. Anybody that
knows whats going on knows that Israel is oppressing the Palestinians.
Sure you might make valid arguments why but you cant deny its happening.
Media is biased towards Israel? do you know who owns majority stocks in CNN?, or NBC? do you have a clue that Qatar government outright owns the the US CURRENT TV 100%?
Equating McCain's and Hagel's Vietnam Service to each other is an insult to Hagel's actual service. While Hagel was actually fighting the war, the inept pilot McCain got himself shot down after bombing orphanages, and spent the rest of the war at the Hanoi Hilton.
Did the surge work? Ofcourse it did thats why its a surge but at what expense? Thats Hagels point and all in all what did we accomplish in Iraq besides lining the pockets of war profiteering groups? death thats about it. Oh and a huge bill that none of them wanted to discuss until the next guy got into office.
That wasn't "his point". He REFUSED to answer a simple question. And you actually support this kind of garbage?
As for the rest, note that Hagel himself SUPPORTED, along with MANY Democrats the invasion of Iraq. As a matter of FACT, the United States didn't invade either Afganistan or Iraq until it was APPROVED by a majority of the Congress, INCLUDING Democrats that voted for it and called for the overthrow of Saddam.
Didn't hear you whining about Obama NOT going to Congress and asking for approval when he went shoe licking to and took orders from the the French, English, and the rest of Europe to support their overthrow of Qaddafi so they could keep oil coming to them from Libya.
cheryl
You usually post a few completely negative posts critical of whatever position the president holds.
It doesn't matter, you couldn't care lass about anything our president does.
You just complain, complain complain.
Then you run and hide like a coward.
It's what you do and who you are.
Partisan over country.....The right wing way.
Obama needs Hagel to keep a lid on things in the middle-east and in Afghanistan, so he (Hagel) can focus on Obama's agenda's for the future of Africa and his anti-Colonialism idealisms and realizes that China, Russia, and Iran are on the playing field in certain parts of Africa. There will be huge efforts in the near future there. Iran is in Zimbabwe competing for the exploits of uranium and other minerals just for those of you who will jump at that had i not explained.
It scaresm me that we have people this stupid in our country.
Perry, perhaps you can share a bit more of your insider knowledge. Some details will help. Oh, and maybe you can confirm that you are "pro" colonialism.
Obama's "anti-Colonialism" ideals???? And exactly WHERE are we colonializing?
We had the Phillipines and even discussed making it a State. But gave it back to their people. We controlled the entire FREE WORLD after WWII and didn't keep a single thing. We occupied Japan and rebuilt their nation for them. We occupied Germany and rebuilt their nation for them. And we gave it ALL back to them. We took Iraq and gave it back to the PEOPLE instead of a despot. We took Afghanistan and are giving it back. We even took Mexico once and gave it back to them.
Obama's "anti-Colonialism" ideals???? What silly @ss Liberalland adventure park are you living in anyway?
Rick - Actually, I voted for Obama twice. And, I'm a Republican. Too bad the Republicans can't come up with a decent candidate. Most people wouldn't even know where Djibouti is. Or, half these countries for that matter. I do not disagree with Obama on Africa. I just disagree with putting boots on the ground to solve the problems. Being a pro or con on anti-colonialism isn't relevant at this point. I feel his agenda is a bit personal. And, I happen to know that jungle warfare really sucks in an insurgency warfare environment.
And, Cheryl. You are right. My bad. I should have explained that his anti-colonialism essentially has to do with Africa's history, and advocates his father's idealisms. If you knew what is going on, I could've assumed you knew that. The Colonialism issue has nothing to do with the United States except perhaps for our American Indian issues. It's all about Africa and the roots of all the turmoil due to colonialism, then, countries abandoning them. I've been trying to explain why Hagel fits in and what Obama's hidden agenda is.
And yet, Perry, you still haven't shared your insight to "Obama's hidden agenda".
Johnny
The GOP fits that bill perfectly