|
Related articles |
|
Chuck Hagel nominated as US defense
secretary
Chuck Hagel is a known Iraq war critic.
He is also known for his strong opposition to Afghanistan war.
Amid
speculations that he could be nominated as US defense
secretary, hectic lobbying was on to thwart the Obama move.
»
|
Washington:
Assembling his second term national security team, US President
Barack Obama courted controversy as he named former Republican
senator Chuck Hagel to head the Pentagon and his counterterrorism
adviser John Brennan to lead the CIA.
"My No.1 criteria in making these decisions was simple - who is
going to do the best job in securing America," Obama said Monday
nominating Hagel, seen as a maverick politician, to replace Leon
Panetta as Defense Secretary and Brennan, a key architect of
America's drone strategy, to head the Central Intelligence Agency.
In making the two controversial picks, especially that of Hagel,
Obama signalled his readiness to join battle with Senate
Republicans for their confirmation unlike his decision to go for
Senator John Kerry as the Secretary of State instead of
controversial US ambassador to UN, Susan Rice, who was said to be
his first choice.
Hagel, 66, who may become the first Vietnam veteran and first
enlisted soldier to serve as US defense secretary, has advocated
deep cuts to the Pentagon budget and bucked his fellow Republicans
in opposing troop surges in Iraq and Afghanistan, telling his
biographer: "I will do all I can to prevent war."
Hagel has also come under fire over comments about Israel and Iran
and gays. He has supported Israel entering negotiations with Hamas,
the Islamist movement that rules the Gaza strip and is considered
a terrorist organisation by the US.
Hagel has also called for talks with Iran and spoken out against
certain sanctions -- a cornerstone of Obama's foreign policy aimed
at pressuring Tehran over its nuclear programme.
Some also are bothered by a comment he made in 1998 about an
ambassadorial candidate James Hormel being "openly, aggressively
gay" -- which he apologised for in December, 14 years later.
Obama, a Democrat, praised Hagel as a "patriot" who knows what it
is like being on the frontline and said his selection "represents
the bipartisan tradition that we need more of in Washington".
But many in the Republican establishment opposed the choice with
Senator Lindsey Graham saying, "He has long severed his ties with
the Republican Party".
But Democrat Chris Murphy countered that he believes "Republicans
are spoiling for a fight".
Compared to Hagel, the reaction was somewhat muted to the
nomination of Brennan to replace retired Gen. David Petraeus, who
stepped down from his job as CIA director in November amid
revelations that he had engaged in an extramarital affair with his
biographer Paula Broadwell.
Brennan, 57, worked for the CIA for more than two decades and has
been Obama's assistant for counterterrorism and homeland security
since 2009.
He is said to have shaped the White House's strategy to
aggressively pursue suspected terrorists in Pakistan and in Yemen,
dramatically escalating the use of armed unmanned aircraft or
drones to kill them.
After the 2008 election, Brennan was touted as a shoo-in for CIA
director, but attacks from critics who claimed he supported the
Bush administration's policy of harsh interrogations prompted him
to drop out of consideration for the job.
Questions may again be raised over the drone programme and
Brennan's position on CIA interrogations with the 2008 Republican
presidential candidate Senator John McCain saying he planned to
examine Brennan's record closely.
Even as she praised his record, Democrat Senatpor Dianne Feinstein
also said she planned to raise the CIA detention and interrogation
issue with Brennan.
(Arun Kumar can
be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)
|
Comments
|
Quick links