Defense

While most folks were at the beach or on family road trips in the run up to Labor Day, the U.S. Army was activating its Army Futures Command (AFC) in Austin, Texas. The new Army headquarters will lead the service’s multi-billion dollar modernization effort, pulling together the various Army…

Britain’s military should be growing. It’s not.

Donald Trump is fond of claiming that his predecessor mismanaged America's role in the world. "And I have to just say that the world is a mess. I inherited a mess," the president noted during a joint press conference with King Abdullah of Jordan in the Rose Garden on April 5. "Whether it's the…

The House of Representatives will vote Thursday on the American Health Care Act, a bill President Donald Trump has enthusiastically endorsed and what the administration considers its best and perhaps only chance to repeal and replace Obamacare. It's the first and possibly biggest test so far of…

Top Democratic lawmakers are praising a controversial diplomat who served as a key Middle East figure in the Obama administration, after reports that Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis asked her to fill a top policy slot at the Pentagon.

As Donald Trump tries to transform himself from reality TV star and King of Twitter into something more substantive and presidential, his principal argument is that he’s fulfilling his campaign promises. For several weeks now, the White House has been boasting that he is "already achieving results…

The late 1980s and early '90s were characterized by liberal optimism, if not triumphalism. The Berlin Wall had fallen and the Soviet Union had dissolved, marking the end of the Cold War. In 1989, Francis Fukuyama had written an influential article entitled "The End of History," which argued that…

The late 1980s and early ’90s were characterized by liberal optimism, if not triumphalism. The Berlin Wall had fallen and the Soviet Union had dissolved, marking the end of the Cold War. In 1989, Francis Fukuyama had written an influential article entitled "The End of History," which argued that…

Donald Trump's selection for defense secretary once made a cross-country road trip that stopped at the homes of many families of fallen servicemembers. Read more from ABC News on General James Mattis's trip, which he took shortly after he retired from the Marine Corps after 41 years of service:

"Great power competition” has just become a phrase that the Pentagon is forbidden to use when speaking of the People's Republic of China and the United States. The order was conveyed in the last few weeks by the White House in a classified document the contents of which were disclosed to the Navy…

This week Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump made the obligatory campaign stop to address the American Legion. Despite the rhetoric, which at times made both candidates sound like Reagan defense hawks, the reality is that the two presidential campaigns offer conflicting narratives over the state of…

Leaders of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) manipulated intelligence to make efforts against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria and Iraq look more successful than they were in reality, according to a new report by a House Republican joint task force created to investigate the matter.

Defense secretary Ash Carter announced a new policy last week to lift the ban on transgender people openly serving in the military. The chairman of the House Armed Services committee blasted the decision Thursday, calling it the "latest example of the Pentagon and the President prioritizing…

A Department of Defense official said Tuesday that Russia could overrun NATO within 60 hours, but maintained it would be more difficult to do so after 2017.

During last year's budget deal (The Bipartisan Budget Act or BBA), Republicans secured more defense spending in a compromise measure for a trade of more general spending and a suspension of the debt limit. But things have grown more complicated, as the Foreign Policy Initiative's David Adesnik…

Just before the Republican presidential candidates went on stage Tuesday night for the fourth debate, Vladimir Putin announced that Russia will deploy "strike systems capable of penetrating any missile defenses." He was specifically talking about the U.S. defensive systems planned for Europe that…

That’s what many defense experts are saying about the two-year budget deal that’s being cut by congressional leaders and the White House.  Byron Callan, longtime analyst for Capital Alpha Partners, which provides research to financial firms, rates the prospective deal as “defense positive.”

That’s what many defense experts are saying about the two-year budget deal that’s being cut by congressional leaders and the White House.  Byron Callan, longtime analyst for Capital Alpha Partners, which provides research to financial firms, rates the prospective deal as “defense positive.”

With the new fiscal year for the federal government rapidly approaching, the irresponsible and dangerous game of chicken being played with national defense continues. For most of the year, the White House and Democrats have made it clear that they will block passage of defense authorization and…

“We have already cut defense … about 30 percent over the last 10 years, and we’re still at war. We’re actively involved on multiple continents in real combat operations. We should not be drastically reducing our troop levels.” That, as Bradford Richardson of The Hill reports, is the position taken…

Defense Secretary Ash Carter admitted in testimony Capitol Hill this morning that Iran will not be changing its bad behavior as a result of the nuclear deal.

In at last announcing in detail that it would reduce the size of its active-duty force, currently 490,000, by 40,000 soldiers over the next two years, the U.S. Army seems finally and for a day to have captured the attention of the political class.  In fact this is not news, but the long-anticipated…

A DoD News story, published on Defense.gov, claims that the "Strategy to Defeat ISIL is Working, Military Official Says."

A fact sheet on the Defense budget from the Foreign Policy Initiative:

Lost in much of the reporting about CPAC is that almost all of the likely presidential candidates—really, all of them, with the exception of Rand Paul—seemed to place themselves at the Reaganite hawkish-internationalist end of the foreign policy spectrum. The much-heralded return of Republican…

A bipartisan group of mmore than eighty influential national security experts, from former Defense Secretary Robert Gates to Michèle Flournoy to Bill Kristol, have written a letter to congressional leadership to urge increased defense spending. 

From the Foreign Policy Initiative:

In his weekly newsletter, the boss, just back from the Munich Security Conference, shares his big takeaways:

President Obama's proposed defense budget is well below what former Secretary of Defense Bob Gates proposed. 

South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham has launched a new political action committee for "testing the waters" for a presidential run in 2016. The Republican, in his third term, has started Security Through Strength, a PAC that bluntly describes itself as a group to "fund the infrastructure and…

In the last five years, the Department of Defense (DOD) has spent over $130 million to store unused satellites from eight different satellite programs, and plans to spend another $206 million on storage over the next five years. Storage costs for individual pieces of equipment range from $40,000 up…

CNN reports that Ashton Carter will be President Obama's pick to be the next defense secretary:

The resignation of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel creates a golden opportunity for the new Republican majority in the Congress: not only will the hearings on Hagel’s replacement be a natural venue for reviewing the defense reductions and many retreats of the Obama years, but they provide a forum for…

So Chuck Hagel has been fired as defense secretary. We were critical of his appointment, and opposed his confirmation by the Senate. But let's be clear: Hagel has done what he was asked and what was expected of him at the Pentagon. To the degree he has deviated from the Obama White House line, he's…

The AP is reporting that:

The boss tells Politico what Washington can get done in President Obama's last two years in office:

During his visit to Washington this week, Israeli defense minister Moshe Ya'alon has spent part of his time criticizing Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority, warning about the dangers of a bad nuclear deal with Iran—and highlighting the problems with Turkey.

As the military prepares to take on the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is ordering a review ... of the military's ties to the National Football League. This comes "in the wake of the scandal over how the league is handling domestic-abuse allegations against players,"…

This week senior officials from the Pentagon will testify before Congress on their request for emergency appropriations, known as the Overseas  Contingency Operations funding (OCO in military speak). A decision to maintain troop presence in Afghanistan, a resurgence of radical Sunni terrorism…

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is "looking" at banning the sale of tobacco at military installations. According to one military publication, Hagel appears to support it.

“I think that cutting the defense budget in significant ways right now is a serious mistake. When we’ve cut the budget before at the end of the Cold War, at the end of Vietnam and other times, it’s been because we thought the world was going to be safer place. No one can make that case right now."…

Christopher J. Griffin and Robert Zarate of the Foreign Policy Initiative write:

Vice President Dick Cheney ripped President Obama's defense drawdown in a phone conversation with Sean Hannity:

It's been almost a year since THE WEEKLY STANDARD quoted Philip Larkin’s great 1969 poem, “Homage to a Government." Yesterday the Obama administration released its 2015 defense budget, shrinking the Army to its lowest size since 1940 and reducing base defense spending to less than 3 percent of GDP.…

The Republican chairman of the House Budget committee criticized the Obama administration's plans to shrink the defense budget in a statement. 

A Request For Information by the defense department's Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) in July 2011 culminated this month in contract awards to seven different companies worth up to $4 billion over the next ten years.  The contract awards, posted in a notice entitled Combating Weapons of Mass…

Let me add a word to my comments from Tuesday night supporting the budget deal.

A future historian would describe the Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA) as having a profound effect on the United States. The BCA, he would write, was a critical step toward making America into a social democracy while ensuring its decline as a global military power. He would conclude that the law…

The budget deal announced today is a good deal for conservatives and Republicans.

House Armed Services Committee chairman Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon doesn’t look like an insurgent.  The quintessential Californian – a man of Reaganesque optimism whose congressional district now includes the Gipper’s presidential library – McKeon has been a steadfast supporter of House speaker John…

It is widely recognized that the effects of the Sequester are felt most emphatically at the Pentagon and in the services. As reported by Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. at Breaking Defense, the point was driven home, yesterday, by chief of staff of the Army, General Ray Ordierno, who said:

A new report on sequestration's impact on defense from the Bipartisan Policy Center:

Showing the good sense for which it is famous, the federal government—specifically the Obama Department of Defense—has announced its plans to cancel the nationally televised Air Force-Navy football game on Saturday, thereby jeopardizing millions of dollars (and inconveniencing a great many…

The British launched the opening attack of the 3rd battle of Ypres on July 31, 1917.  The objective was to destroy a rail junction on which the German army depended for Western Front supplies.  The plan included British naval as well as amphibious assaults on the nearby Belgian coast.  The naval…

The Department of Defense is looking at some serious cutbacks in its civilian workforce, as Tony Capaccio of Bloomberg writes:

"When word of a crisis breaks out in Washington, it's no accident that

The Washington Post editorial board criticizes the Obama administration's dereliction of duty on defense spending:

Mackenzie Eaglen, writing about the weakening of the military:

While furloughs of civilian employees of the Defense Department have not lived up to the pre-sequester billing, the Pentagon is doing what it can to ease the pain for those who will be taking involuntary time off.  The American Forces Press Service is reporting that the director of the Pentagon's…

During his opening remarks at today's House Budget Committee hearing on the Department of Defense and the 2014 budget, Paul Ryan said, "The first duty of government is to keep us safe. And to keep us safe, our strategy should drive our budget. But under this administration, the budget is driving…

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel had some words about the cyber threat from China while speaking today in Singapore. But a Chinese general, in the room for the speech, immediately responded by saying, "China is not convinced."

In what may be just an eerie coincidence, the Defense Department posted a contract award notice today to Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts for research into "Methods for Explosive Detection at Standoff." Of particular concern are Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) that have become a…

Tulsi Gabbard, a congresswoman representing Hawaii's Second Congressional District, responds to President Obama's proposed budget by expressing concern over missile defense cuts. "It would also cut our missile defense budget, even as Hawai‘i and the rest of the country face direct and heightened…

The U.S. will be spending less, in the coming months and years, on defending itself from missile attacks.  As Tony Capaccio of Bloomberg reports:

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s address to the National Defense University today, hyped by the administration as a “strong message that the time has come for [the Department of Defense] to consider fundamental change in how it is organized and how it operates to better reflect 21st century…

"The GOP of old has grown stale and moss-covered,” Kentucky senator Rand Paul said Thursday to the Conservative Political Action Conference. “I don’t think we need to name any names here, do we?” he added coyly.

Robert Samuelson's fine column in the Washington Post, “America the retirement home,” argues that “The budget debate’s central reality is that federal retirement programs, led by Social Security and Medicare, are crowding out most other government spending,” and that this is endangering the other…

Eric Edelman, Robert Kagan, William Kristol, and Dan Senor, all board members of the Foreign Policy Initiative, released the following statement this morning: 

John Podhoretz, writing in the New York Post:

Adam Kredo reports that the Indian embassy in Washington says Chuck Hagel's views are not based in reality:

On Meet the Press, Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal said that President Obama should delay Obamacare to cancel sequestration:

A group of 15 Republican senators have sent the following letter to President Obama asking for Chuck Hagel's nomination as secretary of defense to be withdrawn:

Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha, Nebraska

Journalist Bob Woodward reported on Fox News this morning that Democratic senators are calling the White House to see whether Chuck Hagel will withdraw his nomination as secretary of defense:

Two U.S. senators have written a letter to Chuck Hagel to ask the defense secretary nominee to explain his assertion that "the State Department was becoming an adjunct of the Israeli Foreign Ministry." Hagel, the Washington Free Beacon reported yesterday, made the comment in 2007.

Former Defense Secretary William Cohen says that Hagel is now "in a difficult position." Politico reports:

John Podhoretz, writing in the New York Post:

The Emergency Committee for Israel releases this statement from Bill Kristol on the Senate's decision to delay the nomination of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense:

Senate majority leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, said on the floor this morning that it's "tragic" Republicans are refusing immediately to accept Chuck Hagel as the next secretary of defense. Some Republicans contend that they need more information on Hagel before voting on his nomination.

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with Bill Kristol, hosted by Michael Graham:

In a letter to congressional leaders organized by the Foreign Policy Initiative, national security leaders says, "stop sequestration now." The letter is signed by former senators Norm Coleman and Joe Lieberman, former defense secretary Bob Gates, Bill Kristol, and many others.

The newly discovered 2008 video of Chuck Hagel has drawn attention, as it should, for his comments dismissing the U.S. even “thinking” about acting militarily against Iran, and for his seeming to be more concerned about Israel's nuclear weapons than Iran's.

At a 2008 event to promote his then-recently published book, Chuck Hagel expresses more concern over Israel's nuclear weapons than Iran's and advocates the U.S. engage with Iran and Syria:

It can be tempting, if you are not a Washington insider or intimate, to put the Chuck Hagel business out of mind.  Or try, anyway. He did so badly in the confirmation hearings that, as Stephen Hayes writes, “any senator who takes the advise-and-consent role seriously had to have real concerns about…

Thomas E. Ricks, who is well-sourced in Democratic national security policy circles, says there's a "50-50" chance Chuck Hagel withdraws from consideration for the secretary of defense job.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta testified this morning on Capitol Hill that President Barack Obama was absent the night four Americans were murdered in Benghazi on September 11, 2012:

At a hearing today on Capitol Hill, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned that sequestration will lead to America becoming a "second-rate power":

Two officials from the Obama administration are on the hot seat today on Capitol Hill: John Brennan, who is the president'a chief counterterrorism advisor and who has been nominated to lead the CIA, and Leon Panetta, the retiring defense secretary. For Brennan, the issue is whether he should be…

Deb Fischer of Nebraska, the state Chuck Hagel represented for many years, explains her opposition to Hagel as defense secretary:

BuzzFeed reports that Chuck Hagel is refusing to detail foreign funders and disclose other necessary financial information to the Senate Armed Services Committee.

On January 23, news broke that outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta had issued a directive that the military's ban on women in combat would be lifted. The New York Times reported that his decision was in response to unanimous agreement among the Joint Chiefs of Staff as expressed in a letter to…

The editors of Barack Obama's hometown paper, the Chicago Tribune, urge the president to drop the nomination of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense. The paper endorsed Obama in two presidential elections.

Chuck Hagel is "the mediocre man," writes Bret Stephens:

The woman who still could be the next defense secretary, Michele Flournoy, has an intelligent op-ed, well worth reading, in today’s Wall Street Journal, on "The Right Way to Cut Pentagon Spending." If we're to have a defense secretary who acquiesces in cutting defense (and we will while Barack…

The Emergency Committee for Israel has released a new ad called "confusion," which highlights Chuck Hagel's rocky performance in last week's Senate hearing:

Dorothy Rabinowitz writes: 

The top Republican in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, said over the weekend that opposition to the nomination of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense is "intensifying." The second highest ranking Republican in the Senate, John Cornyn of Texas, has been leading the charge against Hagel.

Chuck Hagel, who has been nominated by President Obama to be the secretary of defense, does not understand the defense budget. Gary Schmitt explains:

Senator Dan Coats delivered these remarks on the floor of the Senate in opposition to Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense:

In a statement to the press, Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois opposes the nomination of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense:

Vietnam veteran and ex-Senator Chuck Hagel (R-Isolation) made a stunning impression in his audition for the role of secretary of defense yesterday, though it was not quite the one that he wished. "Though he was being asked about things he had said over the course of the past 15 years, it was what…

An advisor to President Obama describes Chuck Hagel's hearing as, "somewhere between baffling and incomprehensible." The advisor made the comment to the New York Times.

On October 3, 2005, President George W. Bush announced his intention to nominate his White House counsel, Harriet Miers, to succeed Sandra Day O’Connor as an associate justice of the Supreme Court. On October 27, after vigorous statements of opposition from conservatives and quiet expressions of…

After yesterday's nomination hearing of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense, CBS's Bob Schieffer says, "I think his nomination may be in trouble."

Texas senator Ted Cruz, writing in Politico:

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with Steve Hayes hosted by Michael Graham:

Chuck Hagel inexplicably stated at his hearing this morning that Iran's government is "elected, legitimate":

Florida senator Marco Rubio says that he will oppose the nomination of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense:

Senator Jim Inhofe asked Chuck Hagel why the Iranians had endorsed his nomination for secretary of defense:

The Republican National Committee has sent out this background brief titled, "Chuck Hagel Is The Wrong Choice For Secretary Of Defense." 

With Chuck Hagel's Senate confirmation hearing scheduled for later today, it's worth reviewing a small sampling of the greatest hits of President Obama's defense secretary nominee:

Texas senator John Cornyn explains "The Case against Chuck Hagel":

President Barack Obama's secretary of defense nominee, Chuck Hagel, said that Israel keeps "Palestinians caged up like animals." He made the remarks in 2003. 

THE WEEKLY STANDARD previously noted Senator David Vitter’s offense at Chuck Hagel’s “suggestion that my support of Israel is somehow contrary to my Constitutional oath.” Here’s Vitter’s full letter, laying out that concern and many others: 

President Obama has released a statement supporting Secretary of Defense Panetta's decision on women in combat units! "Today, by moving to open more military positions—including ground combat units—to women, our armed forces have taken another historic step toward harnessing the talents and skills…

Just a couple minutes ago, presidential advisor Valerie Jarrett, who is personally close to President Barack Obama, tweeted, that "If there's one thing we should all agree on, it's protecting women from violence."

It seems clear that American civil-military relations have been healthiest when there is a high level of trust between civilian and military leaders, i.e. when there is mutual respect and understanding between them that leads to the exchange of candid views and perspectives between the two parties…

The Wall Street Journal editorializes:

Jen Rubin, writing about the nomination of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense:

Former senator Chuck Hagel, President Obama’s nominee to be the next secretary of defense, has drawn sharp criticism for championing even deeper cuts to military spending, making statements hostile or indifferent to Israel, denigrating pro-Israel groups in the United States as “the Jewish lobby,”…

Roger Wicker, a senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, is "deeply concerned" that Chuck Hagel's "views on Iran sanctions have changed multiple times based on public reaction and criticism of his record."

Senator James Inhofe, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Service Committee, released this statement in opposition to Chuck Hagel's nomination as secretary of defense:

In a private meeting Monday—not just any old private meeting, but a 90 minutes long private meeting!—New York senator Chuck Schumer was reassured by secretary of defense nominee Chuck Hagel that he didn't mean the many things he's said over the years and didn't stand by the many votes he's cast…

Former Nebraska senator Chuck Hagel is President Obama’s nominee for secretary of defense. Much has already been said about the pros and cons of the nomination, and much more will be said during confirmation hearings in the Senate. Here is one possible line of questioning: given the centrality of…

Roger Wicker, a senior Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, writes in Politico:

Senator Bob Corker had questions about Chuck Hagel's temperament this morning:

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with Bill Kristol, hosted by Michael Graham:

Charles Krauthammer writes: 

The number two Republican in the Senate, John Cornyn, explains in an opinion piece why he is unable to support Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense:

Eli Lake reports:

The New York Observer comes out against Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense:

In today’s New York Times, David Brooks argues persuasively that Chuck Hagel has been nominated to help Barack Obama dramatically cut defense spending.

Concerned Veterans for America released the following statement, from chief Pete Hegseth, in opposition to the nomination of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense:

Democratic senator Ben Cardin invoked South African apartheid in attacking Chuck Hagel's opposition to Iran sanctions on MSNBC earlier today:

Senator Ben Cardin today again said he had questions for Chuck Hagel, who has been nominated as secretary of defense:

Jonah Goldberg writes:

CBS reports:

Former New York City mayor Ed Koch, who supported President Obama's reelection, says the nomination of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense will be a test for Senator Chuck Schumer:

The pro-Chuck Hagel forces, having failed to pick up momentum from the president's announcement today, seem to be getting desperate. Why else would the following bombshell magically appear on BuzzFeed's website?

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with Bill Kristol, hosted by Michael Graham:

Ohio senator Rob Portman, a Republican, expressed his disappointment in President Obama choosing Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense in a statement released to the press:

Leon Panetta said he's stepping down as secretary of defense to return to his "walnut farm." There, Panetta said, he will deal "with a different set of nuts."

Marco Rubio is worried about Chuck Hagel's Cuba policy, according to the Florida senator's office.

House majority leader Eric Cantor blasts the nomination of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense in a statement: 

Here's an exchange from MSNBC this morning between Steve Clemons, a close friend and ardent supporter of Chuck Hagel, and Dan Senor:

The Emergency Committee for Israel sends out the following press release:

Mississippi senator Roger Wicker, a Republican, released this statement, opposing Chuck Hagel for secretary of defense:

NBC's Chuck Todd reported this morning that "as many as 10 Democratic senators could vote against Hagel":

Democratic senator Ben Cardin said this morning that he has serious "questions" about Chuck Hagel, who today will be nominated to be the next secretary of defense:

During the hearings on Chuck Hagel’s nomination to be secretary of defense, it’s clear that the views of gay rights organizations will be heard. There the issue seems to be whether Hagel’s apology for previous remarks and beliefs was sincere, or motivated solely by self-interest. He had years to…

Jen Rubin, writing for the Washington Post:

ABC's Jonathan Karl reported this morning that there is not enough Democratic support in the Senate right now to confirm Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense:

Senator Ted Cruz took a strong stand against Chuck Hagel on Fox News Sunday this morning:

South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham explains his concern over Chuck Hagel as the next secretary of defense:

Chuck Hagel, the president's rumored pick to be the next secretary of defense, predicted that the U.S. military would be destroyed because of the war in Iraq. As CNS reported in 2008, when Hagel was a senator from Nebraska:

In a post yesterday waxing enthusiastic about Chuck Hagel as defense secretary, Michael Moore called attention to a statement of Hagel that I don't believe had been previously much noted. Here it is, from September 2007:

CNN, reporting on the possibility that President Barack Obama will nominate Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense, said that the former senator has "been against sanction for iran ... and for talking to Hamas." Watch here:

Senator John Cornyn, the number two Republican in the Senate, spoke bluntly about Chuck Hagel, the man who President Barack Obama is said to be naming as the next secretary of defense.

A pro-lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender group issued a statement today urging President Barack Obama not to nominate Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense.

The idea of former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska succeeding Leon Panetta at the Pentagon is, as the fictional king of Siam once put it, a puzzlement. Friends of Israel are up in arms at the prospect, but Thomas L. Friedman of the New York Times thinks he's just the sort of contrarian…

The Washington Free Beacon reports:

In the three weeks since Chuck Hagel’s name emerged as President Barack Obama’s likely choice as the next secretary of defense, there's been a lively, if lopsided, debate about his qualifications for the job. The debate’s been lopsided because the arguments for Hagel have been so startlingly…

Chuck Todd said this morning he believes the Obama administration will "yank" the possible nomination of Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense:

The Washington Free Beacon reports:

There is at least one thing to like about the tax-raising, can-kicking deal that avoided the fiscal cliff: It gave the U.S. military a 60-day reprieve from the consequences of sequestration.

Senator Tom Coburn said Sunday that he would not vote for Chuck Hagel to be the next secretary of defense:

Senator Lindsey Graham said on Fox today that Chuck Hagel has "very little Republican support" to be the next secretary of defense:

Here's a fact sheet circulating Capitol Hill, and in high level Democratic circles, which rounds up how people and organizations are reacting to the rumors that Chuck Hagel will be nominated as the next secretary of defense: 

The surprising thing about the slew of supposedly "pro-Hagel" pieces—articles that at first blush would seem to say that Chuck Hagel should be the next secretary of defense—is that none actually make the case for Hagel.

Log Cabin Republicans has taken out a full page ad in the New York Times to oppose the nomination of Chuck Hagel as the next secretary of defense:

Rosa Brooks on why Michèle Flournoy should be the next secretary of defense:

In an odd column in Wednesday's New York Times, Tom Friedman praises Chuck Hagel. Friedman doesn't actually praise anything Hagel has ever said or done. He never quotes Hagel nor cites any of Hagel's votes. Indeed, Friedman acknowledges Hagel is "out of the mainstream" on national security issues…

Pete Hegseth, an Iraq war veteran and the CEO of Concerned Veterans for America, explains that Chuck Hagel is the "wrong pick at the wrong time" to lead the Defense Department:

Tom Cotton, the war veteran and congressman elect from Arkansas's Fourth Congressional District, explained on Fox News that Chuck Hagel is the wrong man for the defense secretary job:

Kirsten Powers revealed on Fox News that Chuck Hagel is "not popular with Democrats":

Joe Lieberman said on CNN yesterday that, if Chuck Hagel is nominated as the next secretary of defense, "will be a very tough confirmation process":

Andrea Mitchell said on NBC this morning that there are "serious problems" with Chuck Hagel, who is rumored to be nominated as secretary of defense:

Josh Rogin reports:

Texas senator John Cornyn would oppose the nomination of Chuck Hagel to be the next secretary of defense. The Washington Post reports:

Tom Cotton, the congressman-elect from Arkansas's Fourth Congressional District, writes in today's Wall Street Journal that President Barack Obamam should not pick Chuck Hagel to be the next secretary of defense:

In an interview with an Indianapolis radio station, Senator Dan Coats blasted Chuck Hagel, President Barack Obama's rumored choice to be the next secretary of defense.

The group Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors "expressed grave concerns about reports that President Obama is preparing to nominate former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel to be the next Secretary of Defense," according to a statement released by the group today.

The Human Rights Campaign says that Senator Chuck Hagel's expressed views on gay issues is "unacceptable." The LGBT rights organization is referring to Hagel's 1998 opposition to an ambassadorial nominee for being "openly aggressively gay."  

The Washington Free Beacon reports that Marco Rubio might put a "hold" on Chuck Hagel, if President Obama nominates him to be the next secretary of defense:

Adam Kredo reports on an opportunity Chuck Hagel passed on to condemn ant-Semitism:

In a new ad, the Emergency Committee for Israel tells President Obama that "Chuck Hagel is not a responsible option" for secretary of defense:

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with Bill Kristol, hosted by Michael Graham:

An historian friend of TWS reacts to the Dana Milbank screed in the Washington Post against critics of Chuck Hagel:

Iranian state press, Press TV, is praising President Barack Obama's likely defense nominee as "anti-Israel," according to a piece published on the propaganda outlet's website. The piece is titled, "Obama expected to nominate anti-Israel Hagel as secretary of defense."

Former New York City mayor Ed Koch says that if Chuck Hagel is nominated to be secretary of defense, it "would be a terrible appointment." Koch made the remarks about Hagel, who tops Obama's list to fill the defense secretary slot, in an interview with the Algemeiner.

THE WEEKLY STANDARD has obtained a fact sheet circulating widely on Capitol Hill. It details the record on a number of issues of former GOP senator Chuck Hagel, a leading candidate to be nominated by President Obama as the next secretary of defense:

In response to reports that Barack Obama is likely to choose Chuck Hagel to be the next secretary of defense, a top Republican Senate aide emails, "Send us Hagel and we will make sure every American knows he is an anti-Semite."

Watch the live conference here:

Iran is claiming to have successfully "hunted" an American drone, according to a piece in the regime organ Fars News Agency. The propaganda outlet claims that this is the first time Iran has shot down an American drone.

The Foreign Policy Initiative provides this fact-sheet to debunk President Obama's false defense spending claims:

A reader writes in: 

Much has been made of President Obama’s considerable use of the pronoun “I” on the night he announced to the nation the killing of Osama bin Laden. As Mark Bowden notes in his recently published account of the killing and the decision-making that led up to the operation, The Finish, the president…