Take over at the cia. Hamid karzai is coming to washington later this week, the headlines this morning about president obamas Foreign Policy agenda for 2013 we want to hear from you what are the challenges in 2013 on the foreignpolicy front . The numbers are on your screen. Send us a tweet or post your comments on facebook. Also send us an email. We are getting your reaction today to the nominations put out by the white house yesterday. President obama had a News Conference to put forth chuck hegel as well as the john brennan. To head the cia. Also, there are the headlines in the newspapers of syria, iran, peace in the middle east, etc so we want to get your take what to you think of Foreign Policy issues in 2013 . Here is some comments on our Facebook Page what is your take on this . We will get to your comments in a minute. The front page of the Washington Post here is the front page of the Huffington Post this morning these are all the headlines in the Huffington Post this morning. About the nomination of chuck hagel for that position. The Financial Times this morning we go to missouri, a democratic caller caller i am loving it. I am glad that obama picked chuck hagel. It is about time we got a real American Hero that does not have to be vetted by cowards like Lindsay Gramm and the apac crowd. Why doesnt he moved to israel and joined the knesset because many of us dont feel like he feels about israel and their politicians should not have to be vetted by a coward like lieberman or lindsey graham. Host why are you calling them a coward . Caller it is all about israel to these clowns and i am sick of it. We give these people 3 billion per year and all they do is give us guff. That is why. Host we are taking your phone calls this morning. About Foreign Policy challenges in 2013. This is the opening section of usa today there are other stories in noting that the former senator, chuck hagel, when he was in office, approved about 38 billion in aid for the jewish state along with multiple trips to beat to meet with leaders there. That is a little bit of background on chuck hagel. David, indianapolis, democratic caller caller good morning. I wanted to comment on the changes in the Foreign Policy that we will see. I agree with the last speaker, i believe the israelis need to be rained down. These guys used hawks, they elect hawks to take over their government and they are hardliners who will not bend when it comes to the palestinians or other middle eastern countries. We need someone to let them know that it is time to make a change in how they relate to the countries around them so that we can have peace in the middle east. There will not be a way as long as they consistently say that they will retaliate against anything that happens. Host two phone calls about israel this is the Baltimore Sun we will hear from joyce in lincoln, neb. , a republican caller caller i am very interested in the former senator chuck hagel getting in. I had an opportunity to work closely with him and another congressman in lincoln, neb. In the gulf war and the last war. One thing the former senator said that caught my attention was that he is not a clock, if he is an owl. I think read where i think we really need a neutral position to look at this situation and get us out of the political arena. I watched a program earlier on cspan and it was all men from the different colleges and departments of war and peace and i think it is sad because they think we need more women in the picture. There is so much a done that women have done that i have been watching lately on tv. There is not a bullet fired and the two women that started the organization, lost husbands in 9 11 went over and met with with those from afghanistan. It had a tremendous impact. I was invited to numerous meals with people who were lost and our city. I listened to them talk. One of them asked what do i think . I said i think were down to two choices our children will inherit the choices. I am all for peace. I think there is more one way to do it and i support what the soldiers have done host this is the headline in the Washington Post caller absolutely. Host what do you think that means for Foreign Policy challenges . Caller we hear about going to war in iran and i think diplomacy is a big deal. It should not be discarded so lightly. I think chuck hagel was right when he said before we send our soldiers there, let it be the last resort. I have found the dialogue sitting at the table with men, it was some iraqi women to, when i sit down with the man, it is incredible the dialogue to change that discussion. Do you want your children dodging bullets . Many people look at energy and the consumption of our metal resources. This is important. It is not binding. Unending. Host Joseph Ramirez adds this to the conversation the white house said the president will meet with hamid karzai on friday. Josh ragan is on the phone with us to give us more details about these nominations. Lets begin with the nomination of chuck hagel, why . Guest president obama has long been a friend of chuck hagel and they knew each other since 2007 when they served on the Foreign Relations committee. They traveled to iraq together in 2008 when president obama was just a candidate they have a similar war of view and agree on a lot of these issues. Chuck hagel has been serving as president obamas intel is Advisory Board cochair, they get along and obama can put someone in the office that agrees with him. He has a great personal relationship with him. Host what about the confirmation process . What is it looking like right now . Articles are saying that there are about 10 senators who will oppose him. Guest i would not trust any vote counts for it would just have the nomination yesterday and most senators will not commit to supporting or opposing chuck hagel before he has been nominated or before they have had a chance to properly vet that nomination. We know that there are about five senators who promised to vote no his nomination and they are all republicans which is ironic. He was a republican in the senate but the party has moved away from his more centrist approach to Foreign Policy. There is no telling whether the five senators will grow into an opposition that would be enough to scuttle his nomination. The white house is betting that it will not. They are prepared to put Political Capital behind this nomination. Usually when they do that, they can get their nomination for the process and we will wait to see if that is enough. Host we heard from senator john mccain. What did he have to say . Guest he is being cautious. He is concerned with some of the things that chuck hagel has said and done, especially regarding the israeliiraq issues but he is not committing to opposing the nomination. John mccain had previously said that chuck hagel is a close personal friend, they are both Vietnam Veterans and served together in the senate and they do know each other and there is a level of camaraderie and respect. I dont think john mccain and knows what he will do. I think the hearings for chuck hagel and the vetting process in congress and the media will have a big impact on the final results. Host we are asking our viewers this morning to tell us what they think are the Foreign Policy challenges in 2013. If chuck hagel were to get that spot, what does he face . Guest he will face a range of Foreign Policy challenges. It is almost unprecedented we are talking about a military that is tired and worn out after 10 years of war, facing fiscal challenges, and austerity that is unprecedented in american politics which brings pressure on all the budget that secretary hagel have to be in charge of. Were talking of instability in the middle east and north africa which is getting worse and worse including libya and egypt and syria and pakistan. We are talking about a world that is changing and is less responsive to u. S. Pressure and u. S. Military power and diplomacy. That changes something that chuck hagel is aware of and he has wellformed views on. At the heart of that view is that power should be diffused away from the American Military and plates and other Power Centers around the world and that idea itself is controversial. President obama agrees with that and many in congress do not. Host the former senator gave an interview with his former state paper, the Lincoln Journal star he said his critics have distorted his views. Guest it is unusual for a to give any interviews at all but he has faced a much criticism that he wanted to get one opening salvo out there and that is what he did. He basically said that he will have a chance to correct the record during his confirmation hearing. We should note from that interview that he is not backing down from any of his positions. He is not saying he no longer believes in the things that he believed in that were so controversial. He just says they are misrepresented. He is doubling down on those positions so that will make the confirmation fight even more interesting to watch. Host what about john brennan . Guest David Petraeus resigned in disgrace after being revealed to have had an affair with his biographer. It left a vacancy that needed to be filled and president obama looked around and found the intelligence adviser he was closest to. John brennan has worked close to president obama antitrust him and he likes him and john brennan has been crucial in all the secret Counter Terror missions that the cia has been doing around the world including the expense of drone program. This seems like the Perfect Choice for obama to get his body in there and someone who was in the middle of the secret stuck the cia is already doing. Host what are the issues that critics would have with john brennan . Guest he is the architect and defender of the legal justification for going into other countries and killing people, even sometimes americans, through a process that is not transparent like the rdrones. That is one thing the other thing is that the role of the cia is just not well understood. Thatll be something that will be covered in these confirmation hearings. Host 4 john brennan, what are his Foreign Policy challenges . Are they the same as those that defense secretary chuck hagel would face if he is confirmed . Guest largely but the cia will be focused on places like yemen and libya. U. S. Attack the terrorist attack on the u. S. Mission in benghazi was largely an attack on the cia installation. They are little bit more focused on the counterterrorism missions. They are a little bit more focused on certain countries rather than others. Largely, they are facing a more diverse world with more on known threats people they are fighting are not wearing uniforms and marching in line. They are either doing terrorist attacks or doing Cyber Attacks which are even more difficult to find. Host thank you very much for your time. We will be talking with jane harmon coming up here at about 7 45 eastern time. We will dig into what the cia faces in 2013. What are the Foreign Policy challenges in 2013 that is the question for all of you this morning. We will get your phone calls by want to show you what president obama had to say yesterday when he put forth the nomination of former republican senator, chuck hagel. [video clip] chuck represents the bipartisan attitude we need in washington. He has earned the respect of National Security and military leaders, republicans and democrats, including me. I came to admire his courage in the senate, his willingness to speak his mind even if it was not popular or it defied the conventional wisdom. That is exactly the spirit of one on my National SecurityTeam Recognition that when it comes to the defense of our country, we are not democrats or republicans, we are americans. Each of us has a responsibility to be guided not by the interest of our party or our president , even, but by the interest of our country. Host president obama yesterday when he nominated chuck hegel to head up the Defense Department. He said we should not be trusting the papers about the vote count quite yet. We will see how the confirmation process shakeout. The president put forth john brennan, a close adviser and friend of his, a Counter Terrorism adviser, for heading up the cia. Here is what he had to say about john brennan. [video clip]journ he has strong analytic inside and keen understanding of the dynamics. Given his extensive experience and troubles which include traveling through the Arabian Peninsula where he cant with tribesmen in the desert, john has an indictable perspective on the culture and politics and economics, the desire for human dignity, driving some much changes in todays world. Host the critics of john brennan like senator john mccain who is the ranking republican on the Senate Armed Services committee put out the statement yesterday about the domination of john brennan he plans to examine the nomination very closely. Talking about Foreign Policy for 2013 amid these nominations put out by the Obama Administration yesterday, this is from twitter robert, barry ville, va. , caller good morning. What are your thoughts on Foreign Policy in 2013 . The immediate focus should be on rejecting the nomination of senator hagel. I am a strong democrat and have been all my life and a strong supporter of president obama. I think his domestic policies are what this nation needs. His foreign policies, up to this time, have been affected. Effected. To choose a secretary of defense that is soft on hezbollah, soft on hamas, and soft on iran, i think that is destructive of the Foreign Policy of the United States and destructive of this countrys Historic Alliance with their strongest middle east ally, israel. Host why did you call them what you call him socks . Others call him neutral. Caller when he says you should talk with hamas, a terrorist regime, that officially is classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, when he proposes to engage with hamas, that as being soft on terrorism. When he refuses to take a position against hezbollah, as he did, i say that as being soft on hezbollah, which is also a wellrecognized terrorist organization. I say he is soft on iran, the positions he has taken have been positions that would undermine our attempts to prevent iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Host less mature let me get your reaction to the opinion section of usa today caller i think obama paused val has to be carried out. I think he should have a secretary of defense who is not taking a contrary position. Host other challenges ahead for the defense secretary, whoever that may be this is u. S. Aid today jason, in brooklyn, democratic caller onlewhat are your thoughts challenges in the foreignpolicy arena for 2013 . Caller i think president obama made a great choice with chuck hagel. As a democrat and realistic american, we focus on israel to much. In three years, we will see one world government and it will probably be better for the world. Host scott, urbana, ohio, republican caller caller i believe that chuck hagel is to neutral to be in a position against the secretary of state and the decisions that have to be made. I think he will be a danger to america because he does not have a strong policy against hamas and i think we are in need of someone who will stand up to them. Host ok, in other news this is the New York Post here is the daily news with this political cartoon, showing Hillary Clinton wearing a helmet. And former senator chuck hagel wearing a helmet. Also, from the Washington Times it doesnt give a date but congress is out for the next couple of weeks. She has said the issue will be testifying about that report before she stepped down. Scott deborah, in buffalo in the york, independent caller caller i have some comments about chuck hagel, i think he is a good choice. I think he would think about getting into a war without just doing them. I think he is a good choice, thank you very much hos. Host here is more Facebook Comments facebook. Com cspan, if you want to post your comments. We were able to get a speech sunday by president bashar al asad. [video clip] i would like to assure everybody as far as fighting terrorism, we will not stop fighting terrorism as long as we have a single terrorist in syria. This does not mean that we are not going to listen to fight terrorism. This is the first point. [applause] host that was the president of syria in a speech he gave to his supporters. In the Washington Post if you want to see more of that speech, go to our website, c span. Org. You can see more of it there. That could be one of the Foreign Policy challenges in 2013. We are getting your take on that this morning and from yesterdays wall street journal that is another issue. There was this story in the Washington Post these are supposed to be more stringent sanctions against that country. They note that the co