Huffington Magazine Issue 31 | Page 6

POINTERS MARK WILSON/GETTY IMAGES Enter HUFFINGTON 01.13.13 CHUCK 1 HAGEL TO FACE TOUGH FIGHT President Obama nominated moderate Republican and former Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel as secretary of defense this week. “Chuck understands that war is not an abstraction ... It is something that we do only when it is necessary,” Obama said. But Republicans have signaled that the Vietnam War vet will face a tough confirmation battle. “I don’t know what his management experience is regarding the Pentagon — little, if any,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told CNN. “So I think it’s an incredibly controversial choice, and it looks like the second term of President Obama is going to be an in-your-face term.” Critics of Hagel’s nomination have cited his positions on Israel and gay rights and his criticism of the Iraq War.