Senator Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Accused one of President Biden’s top picks at the Pentagon of having a “long history of volatile explosions” and said he would oppose the nomination during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Thursday. market.
Colin Kahl, a former Obama adviser, is Biden’s choice for undersecretary of defense for policies.
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Cotton accused Kahl of being wrong about Middle East policy for the past four years before questioning some of his social media posts about former President Donald Trump and the Republicans.
“When politics in the Middle East was your job at the Pentagon, you failed to predict the rise of ISIS, which launched a real war involving 30,000 Islamic insurgents taking over a quarter of Iraq,” said Cotton. “Dr. Kahl, it seems to me that your judgments on issues of war and peace are almost always wrong.”
Cotton also questioned some of Kahl’s posts on social media, claiming they showed that he was not fit to serve in the government.
“In 2019, in response to a story about Syria, you wrote that the Republican Party has stooped to Trump’s altar and is now the party of ethnic cleansing,” said Cotton. “The job you are looking for requires a judicious and balanced attitude. You will face disagreements every day in the Pentagon, in the executive branch and in Congress. But your long history of volatile explosions will have a toxic and damaging impact on your relationship with Congress.”
Kahl acknowledged that he used “sometimes disrespectful” language and apologized.
Former US Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East Colin Kahl participates in a panel discussion on Iran’s nuclear program at the Capitol, February 21, 2012 (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
“There were a number of positions that President Trump took on which I strongly oppose. I think the language I used to oppose them was sometimes disrespectful and for that I apologize,” said Kahl. “I understand that the position of the Undersecretary for Defense for Policies, while a political nomination, is not a political position.”
Cotton did not calm down.
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“If this is the way you respond to mere political differences when you are sitting at home reading the news, I don’t think you are able to sit in the Pentagon and make decisions about life and death. That is one reason why I will oppose your appointment, “he said.