Hagel tied to James Wolfensohn, purchaser of Gaza hothouses
It turns out that Chuck Hagel - the man that President Obama wants to be Secretary of Defense - is a good friend of James Wolfensohn and then some (Hat Tip: MFS - The Other News).
In his post, Alan notes that Hagel sits on the advisory board of Corsair Capital. a private equity underwriter (PEU) focused on the financial services industry. He also serves on the Board of Directors of Chevron Corporation and Zurich’s Holding Company of America; and the Advisory Board of Deutsche Bank America, and is a Senior Advisor to Gallup.Israel, which is a member of the OECD, is no longer considered an emerging market....
Most noteworthy, Hagel is a director of Wolfensohn and Company. The company is founded by global operator James Wolfensohn. After Paul Volcker left the Federal Reserve to cash in, he chose to go with Wolfensohn's predecessor firm as a senior partner. Wolfensohn sold the predecessor firm when he became president of the World Bank.
In 2005, upon leaving as president of the World Bank, he founded Wolfensohn & Company, LLC, where Hagel is a director. The firm is a privately held firm that invests, and provides strategic consulting advice to governments and large corporations doing business, in emerging market economies.
Since 2006, Wolfensohn has also been the chairman of the International Advisory Board of Citigroup.
In 2009, he became a member of the International Advisory Council of the Chinese sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corporation.
Bottom line, Hagel is operating at the core of crony corporate America and the expanding empire, if he is that close to Wolfensohn.
In the meantime, newly elected Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tx), who visited Israel during the two months between the elections and the beginning of the current Congressional session, has said that he won't be voting for Hagel.
Hagel “has repeatedly been soft on our enemies,” Cruz told the Free Beacon. “Bullies do not respond to weakness, and Hagel’s stance on Iran—the most serious national security challenge America currently faces—makes conflict more likely, not less likely.”
Cruz said he would not support the nomination of Hagel for this and several other reasons.
“Chuck Hagel is not the right choice for Secretary of Defense and if he is nominated, it is difficult to imagine any way I could support his confirmation,” Cruz told the Free Beacon. “Hagel has not been a friend of Israel, our most important ally in a very troubled region of the world.”Cruz had more to say in an op-ed he penned for USA Today.
His record on Israel strongly suggests that he views Israel not as our friend but as a nuisance. The U.S.-Israeli alliance is critical to our national security, but Hagel has been far too willing to undermine that alliance. He was one of only four senators who refused to sign a letter urging the president to express solidarity with Israel and condemn the Palestinian campaign of violence. And he has stated that he believes Israel has "chained down" the Palestinians.
Equally concerning is Hagel's willingness to accept rogue states as legitimate players on the international stage on par with our friends. For instance, he voted against designating Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, opposed renewal of the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act and opposed the Iran Counter-Proliferation Act. He has advocated direct, comprehensive negotiations with Iran's government, along with Hamas, Hezbollah and Syria.
Iran is rapidly pursuing nuclear weapons capacity. The surest way to avoid military conflict is to have a strong and credible defense; weakness and appeasement only invite military aggression.If we lose this battle, we can take comfort in the fact that the good guys are on our side.
Labels: Chuck Hagel, Gaza hothouses, Iranian nuclear threat, James Wolfensohn, Ted Cruz, US-Israel relationship
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 12:45 PM
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