Hagel pretending he’s against war on ISIL

US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel is pretending that he is against war on ISIL in Syria and that he is just playing a role, an American political commentator says.

“It seems that Hagel is repeating the performance of former secretary of state Collin Powel who warned George W. Bush that ‘if you break it, you own it’; this was a Pottery Barn warning, he was pretending to counsel caution in going to war but in reality he was eager to go to war,” Joe Iosbaker, a leader of the United National Antiwar Committee, told Press TV on Tuesday.

“Hagel is not against war, he is just playing a part that’s been cast for him in this staged drama,” he added.

On Monday, Hagel warned against military actions on Syria and advised President Barack Obama to weigh all the consequences of a possible lengthy campaign.

“Once you start an airstrike, or once you start any military action, it doesn’t end there,” warned Hagel.

Iosbaker also drew an analogy between the war strategy of Bush and Obama, saying Obama’s strategy is more cautions due to US failures in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Compared to the war strategy under George W. Bush, Obama’s strategy is cautious, that’s because the US suffered disastrous defeats in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Iosbaker noted.

He went on to say that people do not think the US should engage in another war in Syria. “World public opinion is not so ready to go to war behind the US.”

“President Obama is blaming the rise of ISIS on the government of Syria, this is absurd but of course they’re doing this to justify US efforts to continue to put a government into power in Syria that will do the biding of the US, Israel and the Western oil companies,” he stated.