What do you know about Chuck Hagel? He has more real big guns to play with than anyone in the history of the world. And he has played with guns. And the Republicans don't like him, although he is one of their own. And he will have a great influence of the lives of today's sons, daughters, grandkids, your economy, and the state of the world. So, read him in his own words.

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Sequester has clamped its jaws around us.   Neither party is happy.

The Defense Department and its related activities gobbles more than 60% of our nation's tax revenues.   One party is more dissatisfied with that then the other.

Former United States Senator Chuck Hagel was finally approved as Secretary of Defense, or undeclared wars.   Almost all of the Republican party is unhappy with having a twice purple hearted Army infantry grunt run the Defense Department.

Based on the life he's lived in his own words, what do you surmise Chuck Hagel will do?

You won't get his unblemished words on Fox News, but you will get it in this book review.   Here, however, we really do report the news and let you decide, albeit with an informed tartness to our views.

America Our Next Chapter by Chuck Hagel's book cover

America Our Next Chapter by Chuck Hagel's book cover

What does Hagel feel about service?

It's what the French historian Alex de Tocqueville found so remarkable about our democracy and its people in the 19 ^th century. When a barn needed to be built, he marveled, the neighbors came together and pitched in to build it. There is a common purpose here in doing something important and good for your neighbor, and an understanding that maybe tomorrow your neighbor can do something important and good for you, too.   Service to others. Service to your country.   P 2

"The traditions of service and sacrifice that defined Roman citizenship and led to its greatness disappeared as the citizens grew fat and happy on the spoils of empire.   Rome was just one more case of a universal principal according to Toynbee: "Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder."   P 21

Then he (his Sargent) said the words that I will never forget.   It put things into perspective that have helped shape my life.   "I'm doing what I do for you, but I'm also doing this for more people than yourself.   And you've got to understand this: You've got to be the best and give your best because people are going to rely on you.   They're going to depend on you if you go to Vietnam.   They're going to rely on you throughout your life.   You're special because you got this training.   You can never let those people down.   People's lives will depend on your abilities, training, and judgment."   P 152

What was Hagel's feeling about Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq...?  

Chapter 2   Iraq    Reality, Illusion, and Politics

There was little good that came out of the Vietnam war and its aftermath, a conflict that cost 58,000 American lives and millions more among the people of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.... I was initially confident that the lessons of Vietnam, bought at such a high price in American blood and treasure, would provide our political and military leaders with some hard-won perspective before sending American troops to the Middle East.... As I mentioned earlier, I have long held the belief, and shared it with my colleagues, particularly in the fever-pitched debate leading up to the invasion of Iraq: it's easy to get into war but not easy to get out of war. P. 38

If the acclaimed author and historian Barbara Tuchman were alive today, she might be tempted to add a fifth chapter to her magnificent book, the March of Folly. Her book is about four monumental historical blunders: the Trojan war; the Renaissance Popes who provoked the Protestant secession; the British loss of the American colonies; and the Vietnam war. In fact, I feel certain she would add a fifth blunder: America's invasion and occupation of Iraq. P 52

I'd also received similar assurance when I asked Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney, and Sec. Wolfowitz: how are you going to govern Iraq after Saddam is gone? Who is going to govern? Where is the money coming from? What are you going to do with their army? How will we stabilize Iraq? Do we have enough troops? How will you secure their borders?

They reassured me on every count, "Senator, don't worry, we got taskforces on that, they been working on it, they're coordinated, we know what we're doing." P 56  

As I look at the dual experiences of Vietnam and Iraq there are, to be sure, substantial differences, but there is at least one common factor: Congress didn't do its job. It ceded its constitutionally mandated war making powers to an ideologically driven executive branch.   P 65

On November 26, 2006, I published an op-ed in the Washington Post titled "Leaving Iraq, honorably." In it I called for the United States to begin planning for a phased troop withdrawal from Iraq. The facts on the ground no longer justified 130,000 US Marines and soldiers deployed in Iraq and, with that deployment, the unending string of deaths and casualties that we continue to suffer. P 63

For the same reasons, I opposed the president's decision in January 2007 to escalate our military presence in Iraq (the so-called surge). That month, Joe Biden and I sponsored a Senate resolution that opposed the president's escalation, stating that our primary objective must be Iraqi political reconciliation and that we must establish a clear transition to a limited US military mission in Iraq.

American troops in Iraq by C-span

American troops in Iraq by C-span

History, I believe, will show that the January 2007 Hagel-Biden resolution largely frame the core issues on Iraq taken up in subsequent debates.   The damage this war has done to our country will play out for years to come. It has eroded our position and influence in the world, severely degraded our military force structure, further destabilized the Middle East, and seriously undermined America's trust in their leaders. P 64

We blundered into Iraq because of flawed intelligence, flawed assumptions, flawed judgments, and ideologically driven motives. We must not repeat those errors with Iran, and the best way to avoid them is to maintain an effective dialogue.   P94

Here's what I mean by lack of discipline and leadership.   Look it the way we have accounted for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.   When you review the total budget, more than half of the discretionary money is obligated to the Department Of Defense.   And you tell yourself, "That's OK.   We're fighting two wars and war is costly." True enough, but of that $10,000,000 a month being spent in Iraq and another two billion a month for Afghanistan, most of that money does not appear in the budget (although our creditors are well aware that we have taken on those financial obligations).

Supplemental spending is not counted in our budget process; it is not carried as a budget liability-- it's like magic money!   For example, since 2001 President Bush has sent ten emergency supplemental appropriation requests to the Congress, totaling $820 billion.   We have been financing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through the sleight-of-hand appropriations, not through the regular oversight process and congressional hearings.   No wonder our budget and fiscal policy is in shambles. P247  

What about Iran?

All those realities notwithstanding, just labeling Iran as part of the "axis of evil," and leaving it at that is dangerously shortsighted. As Tom Friedman is pointed out, Iran is a country that "regularly holds sort of free elections," where "women vote, hold office, are the majority of its university students, and are fully integrated in the workforce," and whose residence "were among the very few in the Muslim world to hold spontaneous pro-United States demonstrations" on September 11, 2001.

Washington should make clear that everything is on the table with Iran---an end to sanctions, diplomatic recognition, civil nuclear cooperation, investment in Iran's energy sector, World Bank loans, World Trade Organization (WTO) membership, Iraq, Afghanistan, regional security arrangements, etc.-if Iran abstains from a nuclear weapons program, ends support for terrorist groups, recognizes Israel, and engages in more constructive policies in Iraq.   P 97

What about Israel?

If there is one place in the world where that question is urged upon us every day, it is the holy land where the Arabs and the Israelis have been locked in a mutual death grip for 60 years. That amnesty explains much of the background to the Iraq war, and, as we shall see, much of the potential for conflict from Jerusalem to Jalalabad to Jakarta.

Chapter 4 Fire In The Holy Land Israel And The Arabs

(Israel $5.525B annually in 1997 http://ifamericansknew.org/stats/cost_of_israel.html )

There may be "seven-star" hotels in Dubai and Doha, but they exist alongside the squalor of the Palestinian refugee camps in Gaza, Lebanon, and Jordan. Modern state institutions in Iraq, Lebanon, and the Palestinian territories have all but collapsed into warring ethnic and sectarian factions... It is a region where the most pro-American Arab governor governments produce some of the most virulent anti--American terrorist recruits.   68

At its core is the struggle between Israelis and Palestinians, which is in many ways among the most complex and intractable problems of our time. P 69

In 2007, our congressional delegation visited Aboud, a small Palestinian village in the West Bank. The people had always one product that sustains them:   olives that they grew on a hill overlooking the valley...

Occupation 101 Israel Palestine by C-span

Occupation 101 Israel Palestine by C-span

One day the Israeli military arrived with bold odors bulldozers and ripped up acres of olives. "Why are you doing this?" The old man asked them. The answer was that they were making way for a security wall. Not only did it go through the heart of the olive groves, but it walled off the stream, without which the olive trees would not survive. Without its precious crops, it was only a matter of time until a village would go the way of the olive trees....

  "Where are your young people?" I asked

They answered, "Why would our young people stay?   What would they do?" Many had left to fight against the Israelis. P 71

The US must focus its leadership and resources on ending the madness in the Middle East.   The Israeli-Palestine issue should be treated with the urgency it demands --by the US, the United Nations, NATO, Israel, and the Arab countries.   Beyond contributing to the destabilization of the Middle East, this issue has an enormous effect on global energy issues.   P72

Terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda and Hezbollah have appropriated the Palestinian struggle for self-determination as a rationale for violence against Americans and Israelis. Failure to address this root cause will enable Hezbollah, Hamas-and the terrorist groups even more troublesome-to gather the support of disaffected Muslims everywhere.   This dynamic continues to undermine America's standing in the region and threatens the governments of Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia at a time when their support is critical for any Mideast resolution. P 73

Tragically Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat wouldn't sign an accord that he believed he could not sell to his people and would make him the target of a rejectionist fringe. He had 95% of what he asked for and then turned it down. P 74

For the most part, ideology hijacked diplomacy during the Bush administration and statecraft gave way to a misinformed "democracy" agenda in the region. Of course democracy is important but it can't take root in a region of explosive conflict and collapsing states, or in the absence of a diplomatic resolution of the political issues that are at the source of the conflict.   In the end we got Hamas in Palestine, Ahmadinejad in Iran, and failing states in Lebanon and Iraq. Not all of this should be blamed on the United States. But the sad reality is that we advanced neither democracy nor peace, and thereby lost our credibility in the process. P 78

As the perceptive Washington Post writer David Ignatius observed, "It isn't a tiny handful of people in the Arab world who oppose what America is doing. It's nearly everyone."

Being evenhanded does not mean that we cannot condemn the actions of Hezbollah and Hamas terrorist in their attacks or Israel's overreaction in 2006, when it engaged in relentless aerial bombing of Lebanon for 26 straight days. Israel, like all sovereign nations, has the undeniable right to defend itself against terrorism and aggression. However, military retaliation---right full or not---is not a political strategy that can end the threat posed by terrorist groups. P 78

A broad regional economic strategy-including Israel and the Palestinians, and all the Arab states-is required to provide trade based, sustainable growth, and to integrate the Middle East into the global economy P 81

So with bits of Hagel's views on service, Vietnam, Iraq, Iran, and Israel, where stands you? For or against Hagel?

Authors Website: http://peopleslobby.us/

Authors Bio:

Dwayne served in the Peace Corps in the slums of Mumbai, India, worked several Habitat Projects, and was on the start-up team of the California Conservation Corps. He has a Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University, has been a builder, teacher, political organizer, small businessman, affordable housing developer, and a rock-piler at Rubel's Castle. Some pics and stories at http://peopleslobby.us/more-projects/rubelia.

Some story tidbits about his recent well-regarded book about Rubel's Castle are available at http://peopleslobby.us/more-projects/rubelia.

In 2013 Rubelia was designated a National Historic Monument, right up there with Hearst Castle. CBS clip: Rubel's Castle is on verge of listing on National Registry http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2013/08/07/rubel-castle-in-glendora-on-the-verge-of-getting-national-historic-recognition/

Dwayne is presently Executive Director of People's Lobby Inc (PLI, 501c4)and People's Lobby's Education Foundation (PLEF, 501c3). You can read PLI's American World Service Corps Congressional Proposal (AWSC) at
http://peopleslobby.us/awsc-congressional-proposal

Rebuilding People'Lobby web site is available at http://peopleslobby.us/

Congresswoman Woolsey (D, CA) offered to introduce it in the 111th Congress, then retracted. Please contact your Congressional reps and ask them to become an original sponsor or cosponsor. The AWSC citizen-initiated congressional proposals could be, with you pushing your representatives, among the most significant legislation passed and implemented in decades. Imagine having 21 million Americans cost effectively doing good at home or abroad over the next 27 years.

In December 2009 Ralph Nader choose People's Lobby's book, "Ordinary People Doing the Extraordinary, The Story of Ed & Joyce Koupal's People's Lobby" as one of the Ten Best Books to Read for 2009. You can purchase the book from PeoplesLobby.us or learn more at http://peopleslobby.us/more-projects/books.

"This country runs on laws. If you want to change the country, write its laws," People's Lobby's founders Ed and Joyce Koupal used to say. If you want to enlighten public policy, involve millions of Americans in addressing public needs, prepare for climate weirding, etc., help make it happen. The AWSC addresses with people action many of our most pressing and costly needs. To sign the reopened American World Service Corps petition/letter, which contacts Congress for you: Paste http://www.change.org/petitions/view/field_21_million_american_world_service_corps_volunteers_over_the_next_27_years
Please help make the AWSC happen. To learn more about People's Lobby, visit the web site at www.Peopleslobby.us.

Recent books both available on line and from publishers: Every Town Needs a Castle (Prelude to next book, Every Country Needs a World Service Corps)
http://peopleslobby.us/more-projects/rubelia


Ordinary People Doing the Extraordinary (Nader's 2009 TopTen Books to Read List)
http://peopleslobby.us/archives/736
Library: http://peopleslobby.us/organizations/peoples-lobby/library