Conquer Club

“Send us Hagel and we will make sure every American knows he is an anti-Semite,” a senior Republican Senate aide told The Weekly Standard. The aide continued, “Hagel has made clear he believes in the existence of a nefarious Jewish lobby that secretly controls U.S. foreign policy. This is the worst kind of anti-Semitism there is.”

The Midwesterner has come under withering fire from some corners of the conservative and Jewish communities for his previous rhetoric and positions on Israel and Iran.

“He is one of the most hostile critics of Israel that has ever been in the Senate,” Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, told the newspaper The Algemeiner.

At the blog Israel Matzav, another headline read: “Bad news for Israel: Obama wants Hagel at Defense.”

The piece then cited National Jewish Democratic Council talking points, which include Hagel’s refusal to “write the EU asking them to declare Hezbollah a terrorist organization” in 2006; that “in October 2000, Hagel was one of only 4 Senators who refused to sign a Senate letter in support of Israel;” and that in 2005, he “refused to sign a letter to President Bush to pressure the Palestinian Authority to ban terrorist groups from participating in Palestinian legislative elections.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2012/12/j ... z2F6YsW28w

Chuck Hagel is the Distinguished Professor in the Practice of National Governance at Walsh School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University. He is also Chairman of the Atlantic Council and serves on a number of financial and corporate advisory boards.

Before joining the school faculty, he was the Senator from Nebraska and sat on four committees: Foreign Relations; Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; and Intelligence and Rules.

Prior to his election to the Senate, he was president of McCarthy & Company, an investment banking firm in Omaha, Nebraska. Before joining McCarthy & Company, Senator Hagel was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Private Sector Council (PSC) in Washington, D.C., Deputy Director and COO of the 1990 Economic Summit of Industrialized Nations (G-7 Summit) and President and CEO of the World USO.

He is a Vietnam combat veteran and former Deputy Administrator of the Veterans Administration.

http://www.aspeninstitute.org/policy-wo ... huck-hagel

"My first interest is I take an oath of office to the Constitution of the United States ... not to Israel. If I go run for Senate in Israel, I’ll do that,” the senator said.

Hagel also said he didn’t think he had ever signed one of the letters the American Israel Public Affairs Committee regularly circulates to demonstrate support for Israel or tough stands against its enemies such as Iran. “I didn’t sign the letter because it was a stupid letter,” he said.

saxitoxin wrote:more from Hagel -

"My first interest is I take an oath of office to the Constitution of the United States ... not to Israel. If I go run for Senate in Israel, I’ll do that,” the senator said.

Hagel also said he didn’t think he had ever signed one of the letters the American Israel Public Affairs Committee regularly circulates to demonstrate support for Israel or tough stands against its enemies such as Iran. “I didn’t sign the letter because it was a stupid letter,” he said.

http://www.politico.com/story/2012/12/chuck-hagels-record-on-israel-draws-scrutiny-85123.html#ixzz2FDOYxFRk

saxitoxin wrote:The so-called "Emergency Committee for Israel" began airing the first of a $1 million TV ad campaign today in a desperate bid to keep Senator Hagel from taking control of The Pentagon.




The Zionists are absolutely pooping their pants right now.

spurgistan wrote:It's an upgrade. I'm not holding my breath for Obama nominating Kucinich for Secretary of Peace, but, incremental improvements to foreign policy are incremental improvements to foreign policy.

We talked about Israel and the Golan Heights and Assad said he was for peace but Israel, of course, would have to give up the Golan Heights and East Jerusalem.

Extended military action has nearly destroyed Lebanon, killing innocent civilians, gutting its economy and infrastructure and creating a humanitarian disaster within refugee camps whose only governance is chaos and violence.

The Majiles passes laws and at times challenges the perceived excesses of executive power. The result is far from perfect by American or European standards of democratic governance, where pluralism and open debate are accepted and even encouraged. But, by regional standards, the complexity and sophistication of Iran's government are undeniable.

The United States possesses the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons, and our actions must match our admonitions to other countries regarding these destructive devices. Iran will not be deterred from developing nuclear arms only because the United States and the EU say they must - especially if they feel threatened and if the United States, Great Britain, France, and Israel, among others, all retain their nuclear weapons.

Iranians of good will seek to further the relationship between our two nations. Over the years I have made a point to meet occasionally with Iran's permanent representatives to the United Nations - both Ambassador Nejad Hosseinian and Javad Zarif. Both men are accomplished diplomats who represented their country ably at the United Nations.

saxitoxin wrote:If Obama actually manages to see the Hagel appointment through, I will stop criticizing him for exactly 90 days, with an optional 90 day extension.

Metsfanmax wrote:

saxitoxin wrote:If Obama actually manages to see the Hagel appointment through, I will stop criticizing him for exactly 90 days, with an optional 90 day extension.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/ ... ME20130226

Self-imposed Obama criticism ban ends on 5/26/2013.

2dimes wrote:So is Friday going to be a big deal yet?

JERUSALEM (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel held out hope Sunday for a nonmilitary way to ending the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, but he also emphasized Washington's willingness to let Israel decide whether and when it might strike Tehran in self-defense.

Hagel, on his first visit to Israel as Pentagon chief, seemed intent on burying the image that Republican critics painted of him as insufficiently supportive of the Jewish state. That portrayal was central to a failed campaign to derail Hagel's Senate confirmation in February.

In an interview with reporters on his flight from Washington, Hagel said the United States and Israel see "exactly the same" threat from Iran, which he described as a toxic combination of nuclear ambition and support for terrorism.

But he acknowledged differences on when it may reach the point of requiring U.S. or Israeli military action.

Hagel stressed repeatedly that Israel has a sovereign right to decide for itself whether it must attack Iran. He made no mention of the possibility that an Israeli attack would draw the U.S. into the conflict and lead to a wider regional war.

"Israel will make the decision that Israel must make to protect itself, to defend itself," Hagel said as he began a weeklong tour of the Middle East.

TEHRAN (AP) — U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel held out hope Sunday for a nonmilitary way to ending the threat of a nuclear-armed Israel, but he also emphasized Washington's willingness to let Iran decide whether and when it might strike Tel Aviv in self-defense.

Hagel, on his first visit to Iran as Pentagon chief, seemed intent on burying the image that Republican critics painted of him as insufficiently supportive of the Persian state. That portrayal was central to a failed campaign to derail Hagel's Senate confirmation in February.

In an interview with reporters on his flight from Washington, Hagel said the United States and Iran see "exactly the same" threat from Israel, which he described as a toxic combination of nuclear ambition and support for terrorism.

But he acknowledged differences on when it may reach the point of requiring U.S. or Iranian military action.

Hagel stressed repeatedly that Iran has a sovereign right to decide for itself whether it must attack Israel. He made no mention of the possibility that an Iranian attack would draw the U.S. into the conflict and lead to a wider regional war.

"Iran will make the decision that Iran must make to protect itself, to defend itself," Hagel said as he began a weeklong tour of the Middle East.