Additional Information on Chuck Hagel

Additional Information on Chuck Hagel

Overview


* During his years in the Senate, Hagel rejected conservative approaches to the issue of illegal immigration. In 2005 he co-sponsored (with Senators Dick Durbin and Dick Lugar) the DREAM Act, a bill that would lay out a path-to-citizenship for illegal-immigrant students who came to the U.S. as minors. In2006 and 2007 Hagel supported separate bills calling for “comprehensive immigration reform,” likewise emphasizing a path-to-citizenship.

* In 2008, a noteworthy supporter of Hagel as a nominee for vice president or defense secretary was the pro-Castro socialist Medea Benjamin, executive director of Code Pink, who said: “Hagel would be a good choice. I think he’s shown himself to be an outspoken critic of the terrible policies of the Bush administration.”

* In Hagel’s 2008 book, titled America: Our Next Chapter, he suggests that the United States should adopt independent leadership and possibly a new political party. He also characterizes the Iraq War as one of the five biggest blunders in American history.

* Hagel holds Honorary Doctorate Degrees from Georgetown University, the College of William and Mary, Marymount University, Creighton University, Bellevue University, Doane College, Midland Lutheran College, and North Central College.

* Hagel has also served as president and CEO of the United Service Organizations and the Private Sector Council; deputy director and chief operating officer of the 1990 G7 Summit; board of directors or advisory committee member of the American Red Cross, the Eisenhower World Affairs Institute, and the Ripon Society; member of the Council on Foreign Relations; chairman of the Atlantic Council; board of directors member of Chevron Corporation and Zurich’s Holding Company of America; advisory board member of Bread for the World, Corsair Capital, Deutsche Bank America, M.I.C. Industries, the U.S. Middle East Project, and the International Center for the Study Of Radicalization and Political Violence; senior advisor to Gallup; and chairman of the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration Advisory Committee.

* Hagel has been a distinguished Professor at Georgetown University since 2009.

* In 2009 Hagel was elected as board chairman of the Atlantic Council, a think tank and public policy group whose mission is to “promote constructive U.S. leadership and engagement in international affairs.” This organization has received funding from a number of foreign governments, including those of of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, as well as five separate Turkish government entities.

* In 2010 Hagel joined the board of directors of Chevron. That same year, one of the Turkish donors to the Atlantic Council—Turkish Petroleum Corporation—signed a major deal with Chevron for joint oil exploration in the Black Sea. The potential significance of this is discussed here.

* Hagel is also a board of directors member of both the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and the Ploughshares Fund. Ploughshares gives financial support to a number of organizations sympathetic to the theocratic regime of Iran and hostile to Israel. One such group is the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), the Iranian regime’s principal lobbyist in the United States. NIAC has a strong relationship with the Obama administration, as indicated by Andrew C. McCarthy’s report in National Review: “[NIAC’s] top official, Trita Parsi, visits the White House, consults with Valerie Jarrett, briefs Secretary of State [Hillary] Clinton, lectures the CIA, and so on.” Moreover, Hagel personally has had noteworthy ties to NIAC and its precursor organization (the American-Iranian Council), giving speeches in opposition to sanctions against Iran (vis a vis its nuclear program) and advocating unconditional negotiations with the mullahs in Tehran.

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