Former Nebraska senator Chuck Hegel has recently been named the new Defense Secretary. While the president’s choice was controversial eventually the voting process ended in favor of Chuck Hegel. Hegel’s military aide will be Waldhouser who performed the same job for Leon Panetta, the former Defense Secretary. Will the aide provided by Waldhouser mean that the military actions will be going in the same direction they were when Leon Panetta was running the Pentagon or will the new secretary bring his own set of rules? There a lot of questions and wonderings about the naming of Chuck Hegel as new Defense Secretary. It is only a matter of time before we see whether the president’s instincts on this issue were right or not.
“Chuck Hagel is the leader that our troops deserve. He is an American patriot — he enlisted in the Army and volunteered for Vietnam,” This is what the president declared while trying to explain his choice. “Chuck knows that war is not an abstraction. He understands that sending young Americans to fight and bleed in the dirt and mud — that’s something we only do when it’s absolutely necessary.”
The nomination process however was not without drama as a republican party tried to delay the voting. The reason behind this action was the opinions that former senators expressed on the Iraq war and feared possible changes in the courses of action to be taken when dealing with Israel and Iran.
The new leader of the pentagon seems to have quite a rough start taking into account the recent sequester cuts. These cuts make a lot of changes in the defense department and furthermore the former Nebraska senator has no say in the areas where the cuts will be made. The fact that the Defense Secretary cannot control the budget cuts of the Defense department is raising a lot of questions. Some claim that the USA army is no longer a force to be dealt with but rather a mascaraed ran by a bunch of accountants. The new defense secretary has already voiced his concerns about the impact of the budget cuts in the defense department.
In the past former Nebraska Senator’s statements on different matters regarding the war have given birth to a lot of controversies. In the same way the new Defense Secretary started his rule ship with a shock statement:
"We can't dictate to the world. But we must engage the world. We must lead with our allies”
The USA has to learn the meaning of compromises. It would seem that the recent sequester cuts are hitting America where it hurts most: its pride. Could this be the decline of the world’s greatest power? Will this great country be able to get back on his feet or will it kneel before other rising powers?
It seems that this question is also bothering the new Pentagon leader. There is a lot of pressure on his shoulders because he will have to guide the military forces through a new era.
What heritage will his leadership leave to the people? Is his recent statement a sign of fear towards the future to come or is he simply a realist. Perhaps America has lost perspective and it needs a new fresh dose of reality in order to bounce back on its feet and it may be that Chuck Hegel is just what it is needed: a realist looking to rebuild a great military power.
Comments