Sen. Chuck Hagel: Let's Be Nice to Europe
Reported by Marie Therese - November 18, 2004 -
On Big Story with John Gibson (11/16/04), during a discussion on the nomination of Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State, Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) struck a new note and advocated a detente with Europe, a position that is completely at odds with the world view of host John Gibson and FOX News. Gibson, in general, listened without interrupting the Senator, which is amazing, because he usually gets quite testy on the subject of Europe.
GIBSON: Senator Hagel, you know, we know the countries that are aligned against us in a general way, the ones that used to be friends - France and Germany and so forth - we also know - including Russia and China. We also know now that Charles Duelfer has reported and additional information has come in that some of the officials of those countries were literally being bribed by Saddam Hussein. What can a Secretary of State do and what can a President do when the U.N. is allegedly being bought off? How can one expect to get over that diplomatic hurdle?
HAGEL: Well, John, first of all I think we have to be a little careful and not say or associate the governments of friends and allies - and they are - the countries that you've mentioned. We may have differences with these countries on certain issues, but certainly Germany and France have been strong allies of ours since World War II. You can't associate or connect necessaarily the corrupt business practices of individuals with the government of those countries signing off or knowing.
GIBSON (overtalks the last 5 words): But, what about these statements from Gerhard Schroeder out of Germany? From Jacques Chirac, President of France? They've been pretty hostile statements to the United States.
HAGEL: Well, they have, on certain issues. That's exactly right. We've had differences with allies, John, for a long time, since the history of man. But the fact is the Germans and the French, for example, are working closely with us in Kosovo, for example, in Afghanistan, for example, on intelligence issues, on training issues, so, yes, we have differences. We're gonna have to bridge those differences for our own good and their good.
Common denominator: Self interest. I think we have to be a little careful here not to connect our friends and our allies with what may have been done by certain individuals. And you can't condone that and I'm glad that we are investigating and doing everything we need to to pursue what happened during that time that Saddam was, in fact, bribing some of these individuals. But, we need friends. We can't isolate ourselves in the world here, John. For us to be successful in Iraq, Afghanisatn, North Korea, Iran - it's gonna take all of our friends, all of our alliances, working together in common purpose.
GIBSON: You know now, Senator, I led you down the garden path for you to make a statesman-like statement, because I'm looking at a story in the Washington Post in which you were in Omaha and responding to a question by13-year-old Alex Rivas, who asked you if you wanted to be President of the United States. And you said "Well, I do think about running occasionally." So let's expand on that a little bit. 2008 is not gonna have a Republican incombent. Do you have plans for 2008?
HAGEL: My plans are for the 109th Congress and for doing everything I can over the next two years to fulfil my commitments to the state and the country. I will have to make a decision regarding my political future well before 2008. I'm not ready to announce it here, John, on your show, but I'll let you know when I am.
GIBSON: Will you come and announce it here first?
HAGEL: I will let you know. You'll be one of the first.
GIBSON: I'm gonna hold you to it. Senator Chuck Hagel. We appreciate it, Senator. We'll talk to you again.
COMMENT
Senator Hagel may be a respected Republican, but the views he expresses here are 180 degrees the opposite of the Bush administration, which has effectively used FOX News and the conservative noise machine to advance a very anti-European agenda. It's been so effective that any Republican speaker can gets an instantaneous negative audience response simply by mentioning the name "Jack" Chirac.
Hagel's POV, expressed in this interview, is so out of step with the last four years of Bush administration foreign policy that I fully expected Gibson to go off on one of his tirades and berate the Senator for his "liberal, pro-European" views. Had it been a Democrat, most assuredly this is what would have happened. However, Gibson never challenged Hagel. choosing instead to focus on the Senator's Presidential aspirations.
Could Senator Hagel be laying the ground work for a substative shift in the Bush doctrine of neo-isolationism? If so, it will be interesting to see how the Europeans respond to a "kinder, gentler" message, delivered by Condoleezza Rice.
UPDATE (Posted 11/18/04 at 10:55 AM EST)
The following is information by Bev Harris of BlockBoxVoting.com on Senator Hagel.
Hagel for President? Hagel's campaign has purchased the domain names "hagel2008.com" and "ChuckHagel2008.com.". His aspirations to higher office have been known to insiders for some time earlier, the domain name "Bush-Hagel2004.com" was purchased, but it has now been released.
Hagel was head of the Private Sector Council for George H.W. Bush. Shortly afterward, he took over as Chairman of ES&S, (then called AIS), the company that built, programmed, and supplies the technicians for every one of the voting machines that counted Hagel's votes.
Around the time that Hagel worked with the first Bush administration, an attorney named Jan Baran was General Counsel for the George H.W. Bush campaign. Baran then became General Counsel for the Republican National Committee, and is currently one of the most powerful election lawyers in America. On January 28, 2003, Baran and Linehan tried to push The Hill's Alex Bolton into killing his story about Hagel's misrepresentations on his FEC documents; when Bolton stood up to them, they told him to soften the story. Bolton refused.
"Sen. Chuck Hagel thinks he's capable of being an effective president and says he isn't afraid of the scrutiny that comes with a White House bid," says an AP report (posted at The Independent.com News).
In 2000, Hagel was on the short list, along with Dick Cheney, for the vice president position on the George W. Bush ticket:
Here's what Dick Cheney had to say when he learned that Hagel was also being considered for the vice presidential slot: "Senator Chuck Hagel represents the quality, character and experience that America is searching for in national leadership,"
Hagel's PR machine has crafted his image as a maverick who doesn't mind criticizing the Bush Administration. In fact, Hagel's ties to both George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush go back nearly 20 years, and a closer examination reveals a slightly different picture. The book, Black Box Voting, contains the unauthorized bio of Chuck Hagel.
The media, however, has not exposed Hagel to much scrutiny.
"...he has methodically ticked off choice committee assignments Energy, Education, Aging, Banking, Health, Foreign Relations and his latest, Intelligence. That legislative background, coupled with his status as a national media darling, could suggest his journey is heading to a destination more lofty," reports Margery Beck at the AP wire service.
Hagel on the Energy Committee: According to The Ecologist magazine, Hagel co-authored and pushed through "the most significant act of Congressional subversion," the Byrd-Hagel Resolution, which in and of itself derailed ratification on the Kyoto Protocol.
Hagel on the Foreign Relations Committee: Led by Chuck Hagel, 18 senators signed a letter endorsing prompt approval of an $18 billion request for the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Hagel has said he views continued financial support of the IMF as vital due to globalization activities. Hagel sponsored a reform bill to get the IMF to do a better job of making borrowing countries meet their international obligations. Since that time, the economy has collapsed in Argentina at one time the international poster child for striving to "meet its obligations," i.e. restructure itself to cut wages, privatize its commons, and hand over its assets to foreign-owned companies.
Hagel on the Intelligence Committee: Hagel's positions on issues like citizen surveillance and enforcement of the Patriot Act will be showcased during the next two years.
