"Questions" remain about Hagel for Democrats, Republicans

Former Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. / Junko Kimura/Getty Images

Two Democratic and two Republican members of the committee that will hold the hearing to confirm - or deny - former Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., as President Obama's pick to succeed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said that "questions" remain to be answered about the rogue Republican before they will commit to voting for him.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., a member of the Armed Services Committee, which will hold Hagel's yet-to-be-scheduled confirmation hearing, said on "Fox News Sunday" he won't decide whether to back the president's nomination until after Hagel has made his case. Concerns about the Vietnam War veteran have come mostly from the right and the pro-Israel lobby, taking issue with Hagel's stance against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, his call for direct negotiations with Hamas and votes against some Iran sanctions.

"I'm not comfortable yet," Blumenthal said of the nomination. Though he predicted Hagel will be confirmed, "I'm going to want to ask questions," particularly about his controversial record with regard to Iran and Israel, he said.

• Early signs point to rocky road for Hagel confirmation as defense secretary
• McCain: "Significant questions" about Obama's Cabinet picks

There are "serious questions" for Hagel to answer, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., agreed in an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation." Manchin said while he doesn't personally know Hagel, he is scheduled to meet with him next week - "a very interesting conversation I look forward to having."

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Manchin ready for Senate debate on nominations and guns

"I want to sit down and get his view points on Israel, our greatest ally," Manchin said. "I want to see... why he chose to oppose the Iraq War, which I think was a wise choice now that we know all the conditions. Also Iran - I believe the sanctions in Iran are working and can even work further without going in and having a land war there. And Afghanistan. I believe that he believes, as I do, that there's not going to be any changes that we're going to significantly make there no matter how long we are there."

Republicans on the committee, too, said Hagel will have to prove himself against the odds. Appearing on "Face the Nation," the committee's top Republican, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said at this point he would neither vote for nor against Hagel, who chaired his presidential campaign in 2000 before turning around and endorsing Mr. Obama in 2008. There are "legitimate questions that need to be asked," McCain said.

"I honored Chuck Hagel's service. He's a friend," he continued. "My questions about him - and they will be raised in the nominations - are, what is his view of America's role in the world? 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. Why would he oppose calling the Iranian revolutionary guard a terrorist organization? [It's the] same outfit that's on the ground now in Syria killing Syrians, same outfit that was exploiting the most lethal IEDs into Iraq killing Americans."

Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., said on "Fox News Sunday" she's "very troubled" about the president's decision to nominate Hagel. "I think the hearings on this nomination are going to be consequential," she said. "I have not made up my mind, but... you put up his prior positions. It makes me wonder - it perplexes me why the president nominated Sen. Hagel.

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[MidWestSense]

These are the buzz phrases for survival in Washington
- No daylight between US and Israel
- Israels right of self defense
- Our true ally Israel
- The only democracy in the middle east
- Our shared values with Israel

all politicians are encouraged to use these phrases whenever they mention Israel

[surlyujest]

@88RONIN: And all the middle eastern Islamic countries that that we "support" are not? IMO, I think we should first and foremost quit supporting them (Islamic countries).

[thebob-bob]

The only question is, "Will Republicans continue to grandstand and obstruct the routine functions of the Federal Government?".

Hagel would e an awesome choice and the only ones who object are the Obama Haters, who hate everything that Obama says or does, or the extreme pro-Isreal, anti-semites whose only interest in Isreal is their bizarre evangelical beliefs about the Rapture.

[Nikos_Retsos]

"Why would he oppose calling the Iranian revolutionary guard a terrorist organization?" (Next to last paragraph - in the article) Because the Iranian Revolutionary Guards is the official army of a nation recognized by all 194 United Nations member states! What the aforesaid question about Hagel - among other such foolish questions- reveals, therefore, is this: "ChucK Hagel, or any other great American hero who has served his country at war honorably, is not being rewarded for his heroism or courage in the battle because he comes up short on Jewishness!" And those who demand it are his former colleagues in the senate - both republicans and democrats- who have taken large doses of political contributions from the Jewish lobby, and now they feel obliged to pay back for by using their vote to stub Hagel on the back! Does anybody remember the Keaton FIve (senators) scandal, where 5 senators tried to reward Mr. Keaton for his plum contributions to them by pushing the U.S. Justice Department to drop its corruption investigation of him - until the Justice Department started to investigate the senators for obstruction of jJustice?

That is what we have today with Mr. Hagel's nomination. Mr. Hagel was correct to reveal that the "Jewish lobby intimidate many people up in the Capitol Hill." After all, it is an open secret. But Mr. Hagel's unfogiven sin was that he dared to utter it publicly. Now the Jewish lobby makes the calls not only to scrap Mr. Hagel's nomination, but also to send a message to other U.S. lawmakers that it is watching them, and they had better toe its line!

How does a superpower with 350 million people is controlled by a 5 million people state? The Keaton Way! The parable: "The Tail wags the Dog" is happening today - where else- in Washington! Nikos Retsos, retired professor

[yermamma]

Wait....that's NOT the dad from Frazier???

[ammo17]

do you actually think for one minute that the old politicians want a enlisted man for sec.of defence?how will they be able to control him,it would be a great idea to have an enlisted man or woman to head the THE V.A. the guy they have there now is a complete failure.

[omnibus66]

The president is entitled to choose whoever he chooses for his cabinet positions. Historically the Senate is obligated to confirm those choices. But now the crazies (pugs) believe they have a different role to play. Even though it is highly doubtful that will ever have another pug president, it is not entirely beyond the realm of possibility that it could happen. If that were to happen, their nonsense would surely come home to roost on them.