Hagel accusations rejected

Former Republican senator Chuck Hagel defended himself against accusations that he is anti-Israel, anti-gay and in favour of appeasement towards Iran and military spending cuts as he sought Senate confirmation as President Barack Obama’s next secretary of defence.

Mr Hagel, the former two-time senator from Nebraska and Vietnam War veteran, addressed critics at his Senate confirmation hearing about past comments on Israel, Iran and nuclear weapons, saying the US must maintain the world’s greatest military power and remain a leader in global affairs.

“No one individual vote, quote or statement defines me, my beliefs or my record,” he told the Senate armed forces committee who must approve his appointment as head of the US military at the Pentagon.

World view

“My overall world view has never changed: that America has and must maintain the strongest military in the world; that we must lead the international community to confront threats and challenges together; and that we must use all tools of American power to protect our citizens and our interests.

“I believe, and always have, that America must engage, not retreat, in the world. My record is consistent on these points.”

Hagel has faced an unprecedented campaign to unseat him as Mr Obama’s proposed successor to Leon Panetta as secretary of defence.

This has included sharp criticism from fellow Republicans and an advertising campaign by a new conservative group, Americans for a Strong Defence, in five states in which it was said he would make the US “a weaker country”.

Mr Hagel has been accused of being too soft over his support for nuclear disarmament and his refusal to vote for sanctions against Iran and belief that Washington should negotiate with Tehran.

He told senators that “all options must be on the table” to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. “My policy is one of prevention, and not one of containment,” he said.

Mr Hagel, who would be the first Vietnam veteran to take charge of the US military if confirmed, said he would not hesitate to “use the full force of the United States military in defence of our security”.

“But we must also be smart, and more importantly wise, in how we employ all of our nation’s great power,” said Mr Hagel, who was an outspoken opponent of the US war in Iraq.

Republican senator John McCain questioned Mr Hagel on whether he was right to say that the surge in US troop numbers in Iraq in 2007 was “the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam”, asking for a yes or no answer. “I think it’s far more complicated than that . . . I’ll defer that judgment to history,” said Mr Hagel, clarifying that he thought the overall war in Iraq was the most dangerous foreign policy decision since Vietnam. “History has already made a decision on the surge, and you are on the wrong side of it,” replied Mr McCain.

Mr Hagel testified that the one fundamental question he always asked himself before any Senate vote was whether it was worth sending men “surely to their deaths”. The surge in Iraq led to the deaths of almost 1,200 US soldiers, he said, and he had questioned whether it was necessary.

‘Jewish lobby’

Mr Hagel said that he has always regretted using the term “Jewish lobby” in a 2006 interview – a statement regarded as one of his most controversial – when he should have used the term “pro-Israel lobby”.

Senator Jim Inhofe, a Republican from Oklahoma, described Mr Hagel’s record on security challenges facing US interests around the world as “deeply troubling and out of the mainstream”.

“Too often, it seems, he is willing to subscribe to a worldview that is predicated on appeasing our adversaries while shunning our friends,” he said.