Chuck Hagel's nomination to be Secretary of Defense lost a cloture vote in the Senate this afternoon. That loss does not end Hagel's chances of being confirmed, but it does make clear that Hagel and president Obama both are going to have to come forward with more information before the process moves to completion. Some senators who refused to agree to a vote today are concerned about speeches that Hagel gave in the last five years which he "overlooked" when he provided answers to questions to senators. Strangely, the speeches in question were to anti-Israeli organizations and articles published about the speeches at the time say that Hagel announced to the gathering that the US State Department was "under the control of the Israeli Foreign Ministry." Currently, both Hagel and the organization that ran the gathering are refusing to disclose recordings that they have of his speech. Hagel is also refusing to disclose foreign sources that paid him or his consulting group during the last four years when he was out of the senate.
This may not sound like much. After all, Hagel is entitled to have his own views and to express those views. But we just watched a hearing at which Hagel said that he never meant to say that the "Jewish Lobby" had "intimidated" the congress. Hagel announced at the hearing that he was a close friend of Israel. Now, when we hear that he was charging a few years back that Israel controls our State Department, it casts a cloud over the truthfulness of everything that Hagel said at the hearing. Further, if it turns out that, as it might, Hagel was supported in part over the last four years by some Middle eastern sources that also support terror groups, senators need to be able to factor that into the decision that they must make on his suitability for office. These issues are very important indeed.
Other senators don't want to vote on Hagel until Obama comes clean about the Benghazi attack last September 11th. It is now more than five months since that attack in which four Americans were killed. The Senate and House committees have investigated the matter for most of that time. Even so, Congress and the American people do not yet know where president Obama was on the evening when the attacks were underway. We do not yet know who, if anyone, briefed the president on what was happening. We do not know why Obama supposedly told both the head of the CIA and the Secretary of Defense to do what was needed to protect the Americans under attack but nothing was done. We also still do not know why, if the White House knew as the attack was underway that it was a terror attack, Obama chose to mislead the country by claiming that this was an attack in response to a youtube video. In short, we still know very little of the important details about this attack.
I doubt that after five months Obama will change his practices and tell the truth about what happened. I can only imagine that the real truth must show Obama in a very bad light. Nevertheless, the country deserves the truth. Bravo to the senators who have delayed the nomination to get this information.
This may not sound like much. After all, Hagel is entitled to have his own views and to express those views. But we just watched a hearing at which Hagel said that he never meant to say that the "Jewish Lobby" had "intimidated" the congress. Hagel announced at the hearing that he was a close friend of Israel. Now, when we hear that he was charging a few years back that Israel controls our State Department, it casts a cloud over the truthfulness of everything that Hagel said at the hearing. Further, if it turns out that, as it might, Hagel was supported in part over the last four years by some Middle eastern sources that also support terror groups, senators need to be able to factor that into the decision that they must make on his suitability for office. These issues are very important indeed.
Other senators don't want to vote on Hagel until Obama comes clean about the Benghazi attack last September 11th. It is now more than five months since that attack in which four Americans were killed. The Senate and House committees have investigated the matter for most of that time. Even so, Congress and the American people do not yet know where president Obama was on the evening when the attacks were underway. We do not yet know who, if anyone, briefed the president on what was happening. We do not know why Obama supposedly told both the head of the CIA and the Secretary of Defense to do what was needed to protect the Americans under attack but nothing was done. We also still do not know why, if the White House knew as the attack was underway that it was a terror attack, Obama chose to mislead the country by claiming that this was an attack in response to a youtube video. In short, we still know very little of the important details about this attack.
I doubt that after five months Obama will change his practices and tell the truth about what happened. I can only imagine that the real truth must show Obama in a very bad light. Nevertheless, the country deserves the truth. Bravo to the senators who have delayed the nomination to get this information.
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