Hagel is good choice

The nomination of Chuck Hagel as U.S. Secretary of Defense is now on hold until Congress returns from the Presidents Day holiday. When aren’t members of Congress on holiday, anyway?

Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska, has been under fire from some of his former Republican associates ever since President Obama gave him the nod to head Defense.

We admired Hagel as a senator because of his independent mind and we hope the U.S. Senate will eventually endorse him. Both West Virginia senators, Joe Manchin and Jay Rockefeller, have expressed their support.

Hagel, who was awarded two Purple Hearts in Vietnam, once recalled what was going through his head when he was rescuing his brother under heavy fire in Vietnam. He said: “I told myself, ‘If I ever get out of this and I’m ever in a position to influence policy, I will do everything I can to avoid needless, senseless war.’”

A defense secretary who has been in combat as an enlisted man and who voices such ideas sounds like a good bet to us.