WASHINGTON—President Obama nominated former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) as defense secretary and John Brennan, counter-terrorism specialist, as CIA director Monday, Jan. 7. The nominations reflect Obama’s defense and national security priorities, according to defense expert Carl Conetta.
Hagel’s nomination has been met with criticism, and Senate Republicans have been most vocal on the awarded Vietnam War veteran’s commitment to Israel’s security in addition to his attitude toward Iran and its nuclear program.
Conetta, co-director of the Project on Defense Alternatives (PDA), believes that Iran will figure prominently in Obama’s defense agenda, as will Afghanistan and “modest defense cuts,” but he said that the President will be seeking “a more diplomatic and political approach” to conflict in his second term.
Hagel, a conservative, a Republican, and a decorated war hero, has co-chaired Obama’s Intelligence Advisory Board and will help drive the President’s agenda in these areas, according to Conetta.
The nomination of Brennan as CIA director has also been met with criticism. As the President’s adviser on counter-terrorism over the last four years, however, Conetta believes that Brennan is a safe choice for the president.
The 25-year veteran of the CIA will largely “stay the course,” said Conetta.
If approved by the Senate, Hagel would replace Leon Panetta as Pentagon chief. Brennan, meanwhile, would replace the highly decorated four-star general David Petraeus, who resigned as CIA director last year after admitting to an extramarital affair.
Hagel Appointment Historic
President Obama said that Hagel’s leadership of the U.S. military would be “historic,” as he would be the first person of enlisted rank and the first Vietnam veteran to serve as secretary of defense. The troops would see Hagel “as one of their own,” he said in announcing the nominations.
Hagel is the recipient of two Purple Hearts from the Vietnam War.
“Maybe most importantly, Chuck knows that war is not an abstraction,” Obama said. “He understands that sending young Americans to fight and bleed in the dirt and mud, that’s something we only do when it’s absolutely necessary.”
Hagel is also a successful businessman: co-founder of a cellular carrier company that was eventually sold to AT&T, CEO of American Information Systems, and board member of a number of large American companies including Chevron Corporation.
Obama said that as a Republican, “[Hagel] represents the bipartisan tradition that we need more of in Washington,” but he noted that as a senator, he had admired Hagel’s “willingness to speak his mind—even if it wasn’t popular, even if it defied the conventional wisdom.”
