Senator ... America NEEDS Hagel... He Can Help Unite Congress on Spending. It's Important. Thanks... Has a Member of Your Staff Figured Out How I Get The CIA Retirement? Do I Send a Letter to Stephen Preston?

CATO vs AEI - 

“Hagel, a decorated Vietnam war veteran, understands war, and doesn't take it lightly,” said Christopher Preble, CATO’s vice president for defense and foreign policy studies, in a statement. “Although the president will obviously make the decisions, I expect that Hagel will generally advise against sending U.S. troops on quixotic nation-building missions.”  

Her AEI colleague Michael Rubin was blunter, arguing that a Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel would make America less safe. “I think his vision of foreign affairs and defense goes beyond naïve and actually is malign,” Rubin told the E-Ring. “He simply does not understand the way Iran works, the way Somalia works, the way Pakistan works. I mean, these guys are going to eat him for lunch.”
http://e-ring.foreignpolicy.com/category/topic/national_security

"in 1992 when I got to have tacos with former President Ford I did not have a chance to ask him all the questions that I wanted to.  I was too busy looking at his large hands and watching him stuff the stuff back into the shell it was mesmerizing .... He was truly kind to me and I will always value his words. AEI is an institution that people in my life have always admired.  Still on foreign policy they can be a little too hawkish.....  It's not easy finding a nest in the GOP when your a hawk with a heart...It's time for the boys with the war toys to take a 'time out' America needs a break.  There are lots of options that will provide peace. Maybe give sanctions a chance.  FYI- I've communicated with Michael Rubin and he's definitely NOT my cup of tea.  Still Free Market thinking of Brooks keeps me blogging for I'm on my own road to freedom... the map says LEAVE Tennessee.... that said I look forward to Hagel.  "
Sharyn Bovat



Within hours of Bloomberg reporting on Thursday that Hagel was being teed up for the job, the CATO Institute, which advocates for limited government, was singing Hagel’s praises as an advocate of America's limited power.

“Hagel, a decorated Vietnam war veteran, understands war, and doesn't take it lightly,” said Christopher Preble, CATO’s vice president for defense and foreign policy studies, in a statement. “Although the president will obviously make the decisions, I expect that Hagel will generally advise against sending U.S. troops on quixotic nation-building missions.”  

Hagel’s military service also gives him credibility the White House needs in defense and foreign policy circles -- and he is a Republican.

David J. Berteau, senior vice president and director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ International Security Program, said a Hagel selection makes sense in many ways and, along with the withdrawal of Susan Rice’s name for secretary of state, “indicates the importance [to the White House] of a bipartisan approach to national security." Obama certainly would need bipartisan cover to limit the military’s budget and role in foreign policy. 

But conservatives don’t necessarily trust Hagel. “I'm surprised to see someone like Chuck Hagel in a position to become [the secretary of defense]: averse to the use of power, prone to second-guessing everyone, himself included,” said Danielle Pletka of the American Enterprise Institute. “I'm guessing Obama will get more than he bargained for.”

Her AEI colleague Michael Rubin was blunter, arguing that a Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel would make America less safe. “I think his vision of foreign affairs and defense goes beyond naïve and actually is malign,” Rubin told the E-Ring. “He simply does not understand the way Iran works, the way Somalia works, the way Pakistan works. I mean, these guys are going to eat him for lunch.”