". . .He's also been critical of the GOP's use of "catchy slogans" to avoid having a serious debate on Iraq. He said that using buzzwords like cut-and-run "debase the seriousness of war."
And he decried the White House's propensity for labeling as unpatriotic anyone who disagrees with its Iraq policies. "The Bush administration," he said in November 2005, "must understand that each American has a right to question our policies in Iraq and should not be demonized for disagreeing with them... To question your government is not unpatriotic -- to not question your government is unpatriotic."
Hagel has also taken an outspoken stance on the crisis in Lebanon, expressing support for Israel but not for the tactics it's chosen to use. "The war against Hezbollah and Hamas will not be won on the battlefield," he said recently. He predicted that "extended military action will tear apart Lebanon, destroy its economy and infrastructure, create a humanitarian disaster, further weaken Lebanon's fragile democratic government, strengthen popular Muslim and Arab support for Hezbollah, and deepen hatred of Israel across the Middle East."
It's almost as if McCain has abandoned the Straight Talk Express on the side of the road and Hagel has hopped into the driver's seat.
Will his party, looking for a way out of the Iraq quagmire, climb on board?"
2 comments:
Chuck Hagel may well be the way to go in 2008. His straight-forwardness is just what we need.
I like his foreign policy stands but I'm not sure I like his domestic positions. I favor tougher on illegal immigration, tougher on environmental regulation, and tougher on financial/business regulation; from what I recall of Sen. Hagel's positions in those areas, he seems more in tune with McCain/Bush, but I may be misreading his record.
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