Hagel, The Non-War SOD

Doug Bandow: Chuck Hagel: Finally, a Pentagon Chief Who Despises War

Politics is blood sport, and so it is with the nomination of Chuck Hagel to be Secretary of Defense. Washington's bipartisan War Party is horrified that a warrior who despises war might end up running the Pentagon.

For more than a decade the nation's capital has been overrun by the Sofa Samurai and Think Tank Warriors who believe in starting wars for others to fight. Vice President Richard Cheney, who used five deferments to avoid combat in Vietnam -- "I had other priorities," he explained years later -- epitomized the breed. For them there is no war too bloody or foolish to avoid.

In contrast, Chuck Hagel served, an enlisted infantryman in the Army. He received two Purple Hearts and rescued his unconscious brother in combat. For him war was up close and personal...