President Obama has announced that Chuck Hagel is his
nominee for the job of Secretary of Defense. The Republicans whose main
contribution to the democratic process in the US is to try to derail everything
that comes from the Democrats, and have already successfully thwarted Obama’s
first choice as Secretary of State, Ambassador Susan Rice, are now out to kill
the Hagel nomination.
The main line of attack is that Obama’s choice for Defense
Secretary is not sufficiently pro... Israel. I have no idea whether Hagel is a
good choice for the Defense job but I do know that being “pro Israel” should not be
a prerequisite for an American Defense Secretary. Hagel's detractors also maintain that he is an anti-Semite, as he once referred to the Israel lobby as the "Jewish lobby". The fact is that there is a strong Jewish lobby that forms an important part of the strong Israel lobby in the US. Mistakenly referring to it as the Jewish lobby does not make him an anti-Semite. Indeed, there are many Jews who refer to the Israel lobby as the Jewish lobby.
Someone must tell those morons that it is their duty is to
vote for a candidate who is good for America. They should perhaps be reminded
that serving the interests of a foreign country is tantamount to treason.
About ten years ago, Mr. Hagel gave one of my good friends - who happens to be an Orthodox Jew - his first job out of college. This is what my friend writes:
ReplyDelete"Senator Hagel is an American hero, a Vietnam vet and my former boss. He is a pragmatic and thoughtful public servant who is primarily concerned with what is best for American interests. To that point he puts American interests ahead of Israel's. Claims that Senator Hagel is anti-semitic are not rooted in reality."
..thinking along the same lines...
ReplyDeleteA former German minister of defense once explained to his compatriots that Germany`s freedom is also being defended at the Hindukush. Which gave rise to the government`s decision to send German soldiers there.
ReplyDeleteBy extension, America is being defended against some of its most vitriolic foes at the borders of Israel, expecially to the north and to the south, by its most reliable ally. Any potential American Secretary of Defense who does not keep that in mind should consider agriculture instead.
Nice to meet you today at Heathrow, my exhibition is at Arcade gallery near Old St.
ReplyDeleteOn the subject of Chuck Hagel, I think he's the last gasp of a line of prairie politicians who insisted that the republic was more important than the empire. Or at least I hope he is.