In a revealing C-Span interview scheduled for broadcast on Sunday, Sen. Chuck Hagel says his wartime experience in Vietnam helped shape his critical views about the U.S. war in Iraq.

“No question that much of the questioning that I’ve done about Iraq even before we went into Iraq was conditioned by, tempered by, that experience in Vietnam,” Hagel told C-Span’s Brian Lamb.

“One of the things it does is it makes you less inclined, I suspect, to jump into war.”

C-Span provided a transcript of the taped hour-long interview for  “Q & A,” which will air Sunday at 7 p.m.

“It’s easy to get into war, not very easy to get out,” Hagel said as he reflected on a taped conversation in which President Lyndon Johnson said he’d be impeached if he withdrew U.S. troops even though they were bogged down in a bloody deadlock in Vietnam.

“Diplomacy is critically important, especially in the complicated world that we live in today,” Hagel said. 

As for Iraq, Hagel said: “I have been rather direct on my concern about why we went in, going in not planning, not preparing, not thinking through consequences.”

But now, he said, “we can’t just get up and leave Iraq.”

“We’ve got to work our way out of this in a way that doesn’t even further destabilize the Middle East, which I think our president has done.

“We’ve got to try to do everything we can to enhance the security there and do everything we can to enhance the Iraqi people with some opportunities to govern themselves.”

Lamb probed Hagel on a variety of topics, including his possible bid for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, his friendship with Sen. John McCain of Arizona, his independent political nature, his concerns as a conservative Republican, his public and private sector careers and his personal wealth.

“I’ve done well,” Hagel acknowledged, “and it has given me some independence.”

During revealing personal segments, Hagel spoke about his childhood and his family, talking about Little League baseball, the death of his father on Christmas Day when Hagel was 16, and the death of his youngest brother in an automobile accident at the age of 16.

Lamb questioned Hagel about his decision to enlist in the Army in 1967, his request to be sent to Vietnam and his combat wounds.  Hagel and his brother, Tom, were wounded twice when they were on missions together.

“So, how close did you come to dying?” Lamb asked.

“Oh, I don’t think I came very close to dying,” Hagel said. “Serious wounds, but not lasting.  I still have shrapnel in my chest and both eardrums were blown out and I still have problems with my ears occasionally.”

Hagel said he has been disappointed by the fiscal record of the Republican Congress and the Bush administration.

And he said he will continue to speak and act independently.

“I suppose some people are perplexed by that because I challenge my Republican administration on the war and other issues, (including) detainee issues,” Hagel said.

“But I do what I think is right and I say what I think is right and I don’t ever worry about is that Republican or Democrat or is that a conservative or moderate thing to do.”

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