Hagel book says Iraq war a historic blunder

As the Iraq war moves into its sixth year, Sen. Chuck Hagel’s assessment is as direct and piercing as a rhetorical bullet.

“The most dangerous and costly foreign policy debacle in our nation’s history,” Hagel writes in a new book scheduled to hit book shelves on Tuesday.

“This administration’s hell-bent determination to go to war in Iraq was an historic blunder borne of an astounding amount of arrogance, ignorance and incompetence,” Hagel writes.

No wasted words, no parsing, no waffling.  No howevers or on-the-other-hands.  Blunt and unfiltered.

Hagel’s book, “America: Our Next Chapter,” focuses like a laser beam on the “ideology (and) divine mission” of President Bush’s foreign policy as well as a stunning litany of unaddressed issues and unfinished business that confront the nation.

Hagel reveals himself along the way in personal anecdotes and stories that enliven the book.

Childhood moments in Nebraska.

Combat experiences in Vietnam.

Values and lessons he learned and processed and embraced, often beginning at an early age.

People who shaped and influenced him.

Prompted to write a book by a number of publishers as long as four years ago, Hagel recalled this week, he finally decided: “I think I may be ready now.”

“What I wanted to say is that the challenges facing America and the world in the 21st century require a 21st century frame of reference,” Hagel said.

And that, in part, means understanding how it all fits together: Foreign policy, trade, national security, intelligence, America’s competitive position in the world, energy, the environment, the economy, China, all interrelated.

Hagel’s book outlines the stark challenges and what he describes as failures of leadership.  Not only by the Bush administration, in his view, but by the Congress and both major political parties.

And, in the case of Iraq, he suggests the media also failed to do its job in challenging the administration in its rush to war.

As the book’s subtitle suggests, Hagel not only raises the “tough questions,” but proposes “straight answers.”

During a telephone interview, Hagel said he’s confident the United States will respond to its growing and unattended challenges.

“We have a unique ability to address our problems because of our immense personal freedom, an economic system that rewards initiative and innovations, our positive approach, an unequalled economy that makes us the most capable and strongest nation on earth.”

But it will require “hard work, effort, belief, faith,” Hagel said. 

It doesn’t take reading very far in his book for Hagel to identify what compelled him most.

Page 5: “It is the blunders of that (Iraq) war, the paralysis of a political system that did not question it, and the dangers as well as the opportunities of a rapidly changing world that have moved me to write this book.”

Hagel’s opposition to the Iraq war largely has defined him, thrusting him onto the national stage.

His sharp criticism of the policies of a president of his own party ignited a steady barrage of return fire from the Republican right, essentially dooming any nascent 2008 GOP presidential prospects and arousing some organized Republican opposition in Nebraska to a Senate re-election bid.

Hagel decided to forego either a presidential race or a bid for a third term in the Senate.   But he has made it clear he’d like to continue in some form of public service if the opportunity arose.

Iraq, Iran, the unresolved and unattended Israeli-Palestinian  dispute and U.S. foreign policy emerge as the most compelling portions of Hagel’s book.

Iraq comes in many parts:

n A battlefield vow when Hagel  was a young soldier in Vietnam to stop an unnecessary war if he “was ever in a position to do something” about it.

n The behind-the-scenes story of a White House proposal to seek Senate approval for even wider war-making authority in the Mideast.

n Hagel’s vote for the Senate resolution authorizing the use of military force in Iraq.

“I voted for the resolution based on the president’s assurances that he would do everything possible to find a diplomatic solution before going to war,” Hagel writes.

Bush personally assured him he would seek “a broad-based coalition” before ever taking any military action, Hagel says.

The administration “cherry-picked intelligence” in paving the path to war, he writes.

In retrospect, it was “a headlong, foolhardy rush to war,” Hagel says.

“It all comes down to the fact that we were asked to vote on a resolution based on half-truths, untruths and wishful thinking.”

And: “Yes, I regret my vote.”

The war, Hagel says, has “eroded our position and influence in the world, severely degraded our military force structure, further destabilized the Middle East, and seriously undermined Americans’ trust in their leaders.

“We should have begun a phased withdrawal and redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq months ago.”

Now, Hagel writes, the United States needs to “avoid stepping down the same destructive path in Iran that led us into Iraq.”

Hagel argues for direct, unilateral negotiations with adversaries  as well as friends, and a foreign policy that understands the value of alliances, coalitions and international organizations like the United Nations.

In the book, Hagel makes the case for political independence not bound to party and bipartisan efforts to resolve huge unattended issues like health care and entitlement reforms.

“The parties are doing a lousy job of addressing their voters’ problems,” he states.

“The country comes first,” Hagel writes.  “Not a party or a president.”

Hagel said this week he’s optimistic about America’s future.

“It comes down to my complete confidence in the next generation of Americans,” he said.

“They will write ‘our next chapter’ and I believe (it will be) a stronger America, a better America.”

Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or at dwalton@journalstar.com.