Where Are The Hagel Republicans?

By Steve Hynd

The Atlantic Council today republishes an interview with their chairman, former Senator Chuck Hagel, that originally appeared in The Washington Diplomat. Read it. It'll leave you wishing Hagel Republicans were the current opposition instead of the wingnut crazies and self-serving political opportunists that have taken charge of the GOP.

Some snippets are definitely in order.

On Iraq:

�Look at the facts: No government, less electricity and people want us out,� Hagel pointed out. �Anyway you measure Iraq today I think you�re pretty hard pressed to find how people are better off than they were before we invaded. I think history is going to be very harsh in its judgment � very, very harsh. And I think we�re headed for a similar outcome in Afghanistan if we don�t do some things differently.�

Afghanistan:

�You can dance around that issue any way you like, but the fact is that there are billions and billions of dollars we�ve spent and are still spending, over 100,000 troops, and all the assistance we�ve got going in there,� Hagel continued. �It�s nation building. We should not nation build. It will always end in disaster.�

Diplomacy:

�I�ve always found that engagement is critically important to statecraft,� he added. �That doesn�t mean that engagement is giving things away or appeasement. Engagement is a long way away from negotiation. But it will allow you some time and give you some high ground, some optics, some support worldwide and a dimension to try to assess things from as close to the scene as you can.

�We say, �We�ll show you � we�re not going to talk to you. We�ll penalize you,�� he continued. �Well, it really doesn�t penalize anybody but us because we can�t make good judgments on just what we think. We have to engage.�

The military:

Does anybody not think that these two wars have ground our people down? Our generals are saying it � record divorces, record suicides, not to mention the equipment � anyway you calibrate it. Quite frankly, I think there has been so much damage done to the infrastructure of our military and our force structure that it�s going to take a generation to build back.�

The Republican Party:

For now, however, Hagel remains an anti-abortion, pro-business, pro-gun Republican. Nevertheless, he makes no effort to hide his disdain for the current crop of potential presidential contenders, especially those (he�s looking at you Sarah Palin) whom he accuses of championing a dumbed-down, �Hee Haw� articulation of American values.

But Hagel has no plans to renounce his membership in the party and says he remains confident it can �come back to its senses.�

�The Republican Party will find a new center of gravity,� he predicted. �I think they�ll let this nonsense play out. It�s like a bad storm � it just has to go through.�

In the meantime, he�d like to see new ideas instead of predictable opposition among the conservative congressional ranks and think tanks.

�I don�t see them presenting any alternatives, any new options or any new thinking,� Hagel said. �If the Republicans get back in power, what are they going to do? There is no articulation. It�s just a �no no no, I�m against Obama because he�s a socialist and he�s taking America in the wrong direction.� That�s certainly an opinion, but what about you, Mr. Republican? What would you do?�

It's like a breath of fresh air - a Republican who is actually principled, thoughtful, informed, and looking out for his country's best interests as he sees them.

So, where did all the Hagel Republicans go?