Chuck Hagel And The Nomination For Secretary Of Defense

Republican former Sen. Chuck Hagel and the nomination for secretary of defense. We’ll hear supporters and critics.

President Obama rolled out nominations for the top of his second term national security team yesterday.  John Brennan for CIA director, and former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense.

Hagel, a decorated Vietnam veteran, would be the first former infantryman to serve at the very top of the Pentagon.  Supporters see him as the right man for the moment.  But criticism has come fast and furious, even before the nomination, from opponents who don’t like his stance on Israel, on Iran, on war.

This hour On Point:  the US military in the world, the nomination of Senator Chuck Hagel.
- Tom Ashbrook

David Ignatius, foreign affairs correspondent for the Washington Post. (Twitter - @IgnatiusPost)

Peter Beinart, editor of OpenZion.com at the Daily Beast and author of The Crisis of Zionism. (Twitter - @PeterBeinart)

Danielle Pletka, Vice President for Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute and author of Containing and Deterring a Nuclear Iran, (Twitter - @dpletka)

Frist Read, NBC News: First Thoughts: Hagel — a man without a party, and a man who has a tough confirmation fight ahead.

The Weekly Standard: Mr. Hagel and the Jews. Nebraskan Jewish activists and officials have said he was hostile, and none—including Obama supporters and Democratic party activists—have come forward to counter that allegation.

Salon: The private war of Chuck and Tom Hagel. After saving each other's lives in combat, Chuck Hagel, the future Republican senator of Nebraska, and his brother Tom fought about Vietnam and Iraq — until they finally saw eye to eye.