Hagel Decries U.S. 'Crisis Diplomacy' in Mideast

Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) offered a sharp critique of U.S. Mideast policy yesterday, saying the United States must engage Syria and Iran and warning that a close alliance with Israel must not come at the expense of relations with the Arab and Muslim world.

Hagel, an iconoclastic Republican who has been considering a presidential bid in 2008, said lasting peace in the Middle East and security for Israel will come only from a regional settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, a process he suggested has been neglected by the United States in recent years.

"Look at where we are in the Middle East with no process," the senator said in an address at the Brookings Institution. "Crisis diplomacy is no substitute for sustained, day-to-day engagement."

Hagel's views on the Middle East are not in keeping with those of many other members of Congress or the Bush administration, which has refused to talk directly with Iran or Syria in the current crisis and strongly backs Israel's ongoing military operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

While citing Israel's "undeniable right to defend itself," Hagel warned that military action alone will not destroy Hezbollah.

"The pursuit of tactical military victories at the expense of the core strategic objective of Arab-Israeli peace is a hollow victory," he said.

Hagel, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who has been critical of U.S. policy toward Iraq, also spoke soberly about the challenges ahead in that country, where he said there was "little good news."

"America is bogged down in Iraq, and this is limiting our diplomatic and military options," he said. "The longer America remains in Iraq in its current capacity, the deeper the damage to our force structure, particularly the U.S. Army."