Thursday 10 January 2013

Rick Santorum buying ads to oppose Chuck Hagel

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

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