Add Rick Santorum to the list of those opposed to Chuck Hagel serving as Defense secretary.
The
former Pennsylvania senator and 2012 GOP presidential hopeful said
Thursday he’s unveiling a new campaign to stop Hagel — with whom
Santorum once served in the Senate — from getting the Pentagon's top
job, including a forthcoming ad buy. Santorum declined to provide
details on the ads he would buy or how much money was involved with the
effort, but he said he's gotten "a lot of positive response" so far from
his fundraising appeals.
He said he also plans to contact senators, both directly and indirectly, and could come to Capitol Hill as part of his push.
In an interview with POLITICO, Santorum outlined his opposition to
the choice of Hagel, a decorated Vietnam veteran who has come under fire
from conservative and Jewish groups that say he has opposed sanctions
on Iran, not supported Israel, and supported engagement with Hamas and
Hezbollah. If Hagel is confirmed, he would be "very dangerous" to the
security of our country, Santorum said.
"I don't take lightly opposing a nominee of the president. If you go
back and look at my history in the Senate, even before and after, I give
great deference to the president to choose the people that conform with
his point of view. He won the election, so he should have the right to
put in the place the people that go forth with his plan," Santorum said.
But, Santorum said, if Hagel were confirmed, he would be "a voice in
the administration that is to the left of the president."
"I do not agree with the Obama administration's policy on Israel or
Iran, and the threat of radical Islam. The problem is that Chuck
Hagel's positions in the past are worse than the president's," he said.
Using rhetoric on foreign policy central to the bid for the
Republican nomination he launched during the 2012 cycle, Santorum said
that the role of Iran and the Middle East are significant national
security threats to the country.
"Iran going nuclear is a game-changer. Not just for the Middle East,
but for the world and the world's economy," he said. "We should have
someone [in the Defense Department] like Leon Panetta, who understands
that threat. While I don't agree with all of Leon Panetta's positions,
at least he believes that we
should keep the military option on the
table. Chuck Hagel doesn't believe that."
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/rick-santorum-chuck-hagel-nomination-86008.html#ixzz2Hc7dz06d
Thursday 10 January 2013
Rick Santorum buying ads to oppose Chuck Hagel
Posted @ 17:23
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