This liberal and radical doesn't see the import of the distinction you're trying to make. Bringing the realists back in from the cold could indeed represent a bold new departure in Mideast policy by the administration. The realists want to have detente with Iran. That could be a very big deal.
On Sat, Jan 12, 2013 at 7:52 PM, Marv Gandall <[email protected]> wrote: > > On 2013-01-12, at 11:47 AM, Jim Devine wrote: > > > it looks to me like Obama chose Hagel so that he could easily get > > dronemeister/torture fan Brennan in to run the CIA. Hagel gets all the > > flack. > > Perhaps, but I think there may be wider considerations at play - although > not the kind perceived by some hopeful liberals and radicals, ie. that the > nomination signals a bold new departure in Mideast policy by the > administration. > > Instead, I think Obama chose Hegel because, like Gates before him, Hegel > is representative of the previously dominant, but now disaffected, faction > of the Republican party which broke with doctrinaire conservative > Republican right over Iraq. They correctly perceived the unilateral use of > US ground forces under Bush as a reckless adventure, and continue to favour > multilateral intervention relying on sanctions, the use of air power, and > the internal subversion of regimes opposed to US imperialism. In this > sense, far from being a maverick, Hagel's "realist" views place him > squarely within the bipartisan military and foreign policy establishment > whose best-known public spokesmen have been the Republican Brent Scowcroft > and the Democrat Zbigniew Brzezinski. > > The administration concurs with this bipartisan military and foreign > policy consensus.On the domestic front, Obama and the Democrats have also > since 2008 been trying to peel off discouraged "moderate" Republicans like > Hagel, Scowcroft, Powell, etc. from the GOP by naming them to the Cabinet > and moving into their political space. The administration meanwhile takes > its liberal base for granted because it knows that, while it complains, it > has nowhere else to go. > > Here's Scowcroft on Hagel: > > Scowcroft weighs in on the Hagel nomination > By Josh Rogin > Foreign Policy > January 9, 2013 > > Republican foreign-policy realists haven't changed their tune over the > years, but some in the GOP have moved away from the realists, such as > defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel, according to former national > security advisor Brent Scowcroft. > > "We haven't moved; the Republican party has moved," Scowcroft told The > Cable in an interview. "I have been a lifelong Republican and I hold to > what I are my own beliefs, which happen to be core Republican beliefs, but > many in the party have taken a different course." > > Scowcroft is one of several senior former GOP officials, including > Secretary of State Colin Powell, to back the Hagel nomination in the face > of opposition from half a dozen GOP senators and groups associated with the > neoconservative and hawkish sides of the Republican foreign policy > community. Scowcroft said the GOP is rooted in the realist principles he > still espouses. > > "The neocons go clear back to the 1970s. They were Democrats, then became > sort of Republicans," he said. "I'm who I am. Whether the party wants to > desert me, that's their privilege." > > Hagel's controversial comments from years past, such as when he once > referred to the "Jewish lobby" or his longstanding opposition to unilateral > sanctions, shouldn't bar him from serving as defense secretary, according > to Scowcroft. > > "He is first and foremost an American and he takes an American perspective > on everything he discusses," he said. "I'm frankly surprised [by the > controversy], because he says what he believes at the time and there is a > core in what he has said that makes some sense. Would you rather have > someone who has never said anything?" > > Scowcroft joined with several other former officials in both parties to > sign a letter in support of Hagel las month on the letterhead of the > "Bipartisan Group," a loose association of former officials that includes > Hagel. The Cable reported that horse racing gambler Bill Benter paid to > have that letter advertised in Politico's Playbook newsletter. > > But the Bipartisan Group has no further plans to act on behalf of Hagel > and is not working directly with the Obama administration on the Hagel > defense effort. > > "This is a group that got together to write a letter to the president in > 2008 about the Palestinian peace process and then got together again to > write this letter," said Scowcroft. "There's no organization, there's no > strategy, there's no nothing as far as I am concerned. It was a one-off > thing. That's the whole story as far as I know." > > Scowcroft said it was "strong and brave" of President Barack Obama to > choose a Republican such as Hagel, but he does not think this necessarily > means Obama is cementing a foreign policy legacy that tracks with the > Republican realist view of the world. > > "The president on foreign policy is fairly eclectic,' he said. "It's a > promising move. Whether it represents anything broader than that, I'm not > prepared to say." > > > http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/01/09/scowcroft_the_gop_left_me_and_hagel?wp_login_redirect=0 > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > -- Robert Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org [email protected]
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