THE RESIGNATION OF US DEFENSE SECRETARY CHUCK HAGEL
November 24, 20146
Today, Chuck Hagel formally
resigned as Defense Secretary, yet agreed to stay on until a replacement is
confirmed (or until President Obama leaves office, whichever comes first. Mr. Hagel leaves quietly, like a good
soldier, expressing nothing but gratitude for the honor of service and affection
for his commander-in-chief. And yet it is
easy to imagine why he is resigning.
Nebraska Senator Hagel, who came
into office a highly decorated Vietnam war veteran, was the lone Republican in
2007 to vote for a resolution giving President Bush 120 days to clear out of
Iraq, citing “the corrupt al-Maliki regime.”
He was a veteran who sought to avoid the tragedy of Vietnam. He was
appointed by a president who ran for office on a pledge to leave Iraq and end
the war in Afghanistan. He came into
office to aid in reducing the size of the armed forces.
Chuck Hagel leaves office the
day after the New York Times reports that President Obama has “secretly”
expanded the role of Afghan ground troops.
I wonder if the timing is more than coincidence.
The sad fact is that with
Secretary Clinton the only visible candidate other than Senator Bernie Sanders
for the Democrats for president in 2016, and her rhetoric on fighting terrorism
has been tougher than President Obama’s.
Meanwhile, there is only one identified Republican presidential
candidate or spokesperson on the media, Rand Paul, who has steadfastly opposed expanded
military involvement abroad. Apart from
democracynow.org, I can scarcely find any US national news network that
presents any of the US anti-war sentiment that exists. Notwithstanding the blessing of President
Obama’s temporary amnesty for a limited number of undocumented immigrants,
border security and deportations and detention continue to grow. I see no prospect that in 2016 or 2020, a
major party candidate who will propose a major reinvestment of the resources,
including our soldiers, to fighting “terrorism” bigger and harder. As for 2024, who knows?
Last night, CBS “Sixty Minutes” had
a segment on deterioration of the US infrastructure, and of how hopeless it was
to foresee Congress finding the money anywhere, as by raising gas taxes or
raising “wealth” taxes. I’m taken back
to the supposed call for military “economic conversion” as the Cold War ended
in 1989. Suppose we bring the troops
home in large numbers, and deploy them to repair bridges, roads, and sewer
systems, to clean and repair waterways and water systems, to help engineer and
deploy solar, wind and water energy sources both large and small enough for
individual consumer use. Suppose
military arms production was shifted domestic transport, and for production of
machinery for domestic military and civilian use, toward the end of making
development economically and environmentally sustainable and inclusive. Suppose troop redeployments home were
supplemented by expansion of programs for US youth to serve needs for education
and other social services, including time with the elderly and infirm. Imagine using troops abroad as US infantry are
doing building field hospitals for ebola patients in Liberia, or in general
supplementing the Peace Corps. Imagine a
party or a major party presidential candidate who would run on a platform of
converting military service to maintaining and sustaining ourselves. Eventually, public service, including
military service, could become a major source of employment, education, and
career development for our youth.
It wouldn’t have to cost
taxpayers any more than we now pay for US warfare and “counterterrorism”
abroad. It is easy in theory to see how
to meet our needs primarily to assume a duty of care for all our relations and
for our sustenance simply by executive action of our commander-in-chief. But for the time being, we are stuck as a
political culture in the conviction that the way to resolve social problems is
to stop, end, or abolish them. Discourse
and action are dominated by fear. Chuck
Hagel’s resignation is a sign, I think, of quiet despair, a sign that the
growth of US warfare appears for this political moment to be unstoppable. Mr. Hagel, thanks for trying. Love and peace, hal
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