In Foreign Policy Speech, Hagel Calls on Obama and McCain to Rise to the Moment

Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) called on both presidential candidates Thursday to raise the level of debate and spend the remaining four months of the election preparing to be president.

In an address at the Brookings Institution, Hagel said that both John McCain and Barack Obama have an obligation to clearly present the views and policies that would guide their would-be presidencies.

“We live in complicated times. The issues that will determine our fate demand more than glib, 10-second answers and clever, 30-second television ads. McCain and Obama are both smart, capable and decent men who love their country.,” said Hagel, who has yet to endorse either candidate. “Presidential campaigns are tough, and there should be vigorous debate, which produces political tension. But these two candidates must not allow this reality to control the process, thereby obfuscating the serious discussion of serious issues and specific issues so critical to the future of America and the world.”

Hagel called on both McCain and Obama to eschew partisanship.

“One of these candidates is going to have to bring this country together, make the Congress a partner, form a broad consensus to govern, and help lead the world,” he said. “If they so polarize and divide our country during the campaign they will find it difficult to govern. The complexities of an interconnected world will require leadership and decisions from the new president the day he takes office. These realities won’t wait until America might come back together.”

Hagel, the most vocal Republican critic in the Senate of the Iraq war, has been mentioned as a possible running mate for Obama. He decided against running in the GOP presidential primaries last year, chose not to run for re-election to the Senate and had been seen as a possible independent vice presidential candidate on a ticket with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I).

At Brookings on Thursday, Hagel spent much of his time focusing on foreign policy.

“The most dangerous area of the world representing the most significant U.S. national security threat is not Iraq, but the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan,” he said.

Hagel added that international challenges will require consensus, and that unilateral action “undermines our influence and further isolates us in an interconnected world.”

Though Hagel didn’t directly criticize Obama or McCain, he had words that seem to warn the Democrat to avoid a turn toward protectionist trade policies and praise him for his call for more dialogue with rogue nations.

“Trade is a driving force for sustained economic prosperity and job creation, both in the United States and throughout the world,” Hagel said. “Trade, however, is not a guarantee. The ongoing credit crisis and skyrocketing world food and energy prices are among the recent temptations for countries to restrict markets and veer toward protectionism that leads to dangerous insular thinking.”

Hagel encouraged engagement with countries in the Middle East that have traditionally antagonized the United States.

“We should take the initiative to reengage Syria by returning the U.S. ambassador to Damascus,” he said. “The United States should open a new strategic direction in U.S.-Iran relations by seeking direct, comprehensive and unconditional talks with the government of Iran, including opening a U.S. interest section in Tehran.”

Hagel continued: “We must avoid backing ourselves into a military conflict with Iran. That need not happen, but it can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. We are currently in a strategic cul-de-sac in the Middle East. We need to find our way out with new policies.”

Obama’s Republican critics had suggested that the Democrat’s call for direct negotiations with Iranian leaders would amount to appeasement. But Hagel dismissed those claims.

“Engagement is not appeasement,” he said. “Diplomacy is not appeasement. Great nations engage. Powerful nations must be the adults in world affairs. Anything less will result in disastrous, useless, preventable global conflict.”