DON WALTON / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Tuesday, November 15, 2005 6:00 pm
Sen. Chuck Hagel fleshed out his proposals for a regional security conference on Iraq and direct U.S. dialogue with Iran during a speech Tuesday to the Council on Foreign Relations.
Hagel also took the occasion to strongly reject arguments that criticism of Bush administration policy in Iraq is unpatriotic or damaging to U.S. troops.
“The Bush administration must understand that each American has a right to question our policies in Iraq and should not be demonized for disagreeing with them,” Hagel said in the text of the speech he delivered in Washington.
“Suggesting that to challenge or criticize policy is undermining and hurting our troops is not democracy nor what this country has stood for for over 200 years.
“The Democrats have an obligation to challenge in a serious and responsible manner, offering solutions and alternatives to the administration’s policies.”
Vietnam was a national tragedy partly because members of Congress “remained silent and lacked the courage to challenge the administrations in power until it was too late,” Hagel said.
“To question your government is not unpatriotic,” he said. “To not question your government is unpatriotic.”
Hagel, twice wounded in combat in Vietnam, has been an outspoken Republican critic of administration policy in Iraq. He argued from the beginning the United States should not precipitately attack Iraq without broad international support and careful planning for the aftermath of an invasion.
More than 200 people crowded the Washington Club to listen to Hagel’s luncheon speech. A member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Hagel is a potential candidate for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.
Once the newly elected Iraqi government is in place after the scheduled Dec. 15 elections, Hagel said, the United States and its allies should propose a ministerial regional security conference about Iraq.
The conference should include Iraq, Turkey, Jordan, Iran, Syria, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Hagel said. It should have the blessing of the United Nations and the involvement of the G-8 economic powers and international institutions like the European Union, NATO and the World Bank.
The United States should “take a shared role,” Hagel said.
“For there to be any hope of peace and stability in the Middle East, American policies must be based on regional perspectives and relationships,” he said.
Without setting timelines, Hagel said, he believes the United States should begin reducing its military force in Iraq next year.
As for Iran, Hagel said, “its support of terrorist organizations and the threat it poses to Israel is all the more reason that the United States must engage.”
Any lasting solution to Iran’s nuclear weapons program will require direct U.S. discussions with Iran, Hagel said.
“The fact that our two governments cannot — or will not — sit down to exchange views must end,” he said.
Reach Don Walton at 473-7248 or at dwalton@journalstar.com.