By Ludwig Watzal
Chuck Hagel’s performance before the Senate Armed Services Committee was very shameful. He disappointed down the line. Hagel apologized for every truth he had said before about the Lobby’s bullying on the Hill, Iran, the disastrous wars against Iraq and Afghanistan, his prime loyalty to the US constitution and not to Israel or America’s real political interests.
Even if he will be confirmed by the Senate, out of self-esteem he should not accept it. As Secretary of Defense he will only be a shadow of himself. What will he say to Benyamin Netanyahu except chorus of praise about their ironclad “friendship” and support for Israel’s permanent violations of human rights of the oppressed Palestinian people, Israel’s aggression in the region and its disdain for international law, not to speak of the daily crimes committed by their occupying forces?
The pro-Zionist inquisitors have played their role perfectly. For these guys, Israel and Iran are supposedly the most important countries for the US Empire: The first as an alleged friend, the second as the embodiment of evil. Other countries were an also-run. These senators would be better off in the Knesset than in the US congress. Their behavior confirmed everything John J, Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt wrote in their book about the destructive influence of the pro-Zionist “Israel Lobby” on US foreign policy concerning the Middle East.
Chuck Hagel was ill-advised by the Obama people to recant his earlier convictions. He faked so poorly that it told a lot about the US American political personnel who do a much better job. If one connects from Hagel’s behavior on the Obama administration then Obama’s second term is going to be as bad as the first one what foreign policy towards the Middle East is concerned.
The official bullying of Hagel before the Senate’s inquisitorial committee was only the tip of the iceberg. The public smear campaign has been going on since his name came up mid-December. Besides a bunch of right-wing pro-Israel organizations, Sheldon Adelson, the casino-billionaire and Netanyahu’s old crony, and the usual suspects from the right or wrong, Israel fraction who went bananas and called Hagel an “anti-Semite”, invested millions of dollars to drag Hagel down.
The Hagel hearing has shown the unlimited power of the “Israel Lobby”. “The lobby has got to go” writes JM Rosenberg on “MWC News”. After this smear campaign the American people should confront the “Israel Firsters’” and the lobby head-on. But for the time being, they still sit firmly in the saddle. By the time the United States being drawn into a war against Iran, the Americans will wake up.
If Hagel still wants to look in the mirror in the morning, he should not take the job as Defense Secretary. If he wants to become like the other politicians, he should take it.
– Dr. Ludwig Watzal works as a journalist and editor in Bonn, Germany. He runs the bilingual bog “Between the lines”: http://between-the-lines-ludwig-watzal.blogspot.de. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.
