"Yes, then-Senator Hagel voted for the resolution to authorize the war. But even before the vote, he expressed more reservations than most of his colleagues. "You can take the country into a war pretty fast," he said in 2002, "but you can't get us out as quickly, and the public needs to know what the risks are." In his 2008 book America: Our Next Chapter he writes that he voted to authorize military force only as a last option, but the Bush administration had not tried to "exhaust all diplomatic efforts," and that "it all comes down to the fact that we were asked to vote on a resolution based on half truths, untruths, and wishful thinking."
And after the war began, he became one of the administration's most vocal critics. Among his statements over the course of the war:
That Iraq was "a hopeless, winless situation."
That Iraq was "an absolute replay of Vietnam."
That "Iraq is not going to turn out the way that we were promised it was."
That the Iraqi people "want the United States out of Iraq."
That the Iraq War was "ill-conceived" and "poorly prosecuted."
As I wrote back in 2006, criticisms like these were much stronger than what most Democrats were saying at the time. And Hagel was right. We often bemoan the fact that those in Washington who get it wrong never seem to be held accountable, and those who get it right (even if not right away) always seem to be marginalized. Well, this nomination is how the system should -- but seldom does -- work." - Arianna Huffington
This is why I count him a bad judge. He was in favour when he was told it was easy-peasy. He wanted to run away when the going got tough.
Really, this isn't a good judge.
How could he not have seen before it began that the raison d'etre for the war was a lie? That a justification that starts with AQ, moves to nucular weapons and ends up with WMDs was a justification looking for a justification of itself.
How could he not realise that the difficulty with invading Iraq was not with the war but with the subsequent peace?
Why did he give up when the going got tough rather than try to figure a better way forward?
He's a pick that reflects the movement of mainstream opinion in DC. But bravery and prescience - these are not his beat.
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