Letter: Misleading column on Ayotte, Hagel

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The column by William C. Martel (“Good questions from Ayotte, but troubling answers from Hagel,” Monitor Forum, Feb. 14) was misleading in several ways.

The most objectionable was the headline. Sen. Kelly Ayotte’s questions to witnesses in Senate investigations have often sounded foolish, usually ideologically driven. But Martel’s column tells us little about the questions Ayotte actually asked, only that she asked about Iran when interviewing Sen. Chuck Hagel for his appointment for secretary of defense.

The second problem comes with the uncritical citation of Martel’s academic credentials as a faculty member at Tufts, suggesting that Martel’s objection to Hagel’s nomination is a dispassionate scholarly judgement. But ideological writing is not dispassionate. Please look up Martel’s column on the “Axis of Authority.” It suggests a growing conspiracy among Russia, China, Iran, Venezuela, Syria and other countries. That article makes the same mistake which American foreign policy made some 60 years ago, ignoring centuries of hositilty between Russia and China. And cooperation between Russia and Iran? An extremist Muslim state getting chummy with a country which has its own problems with Muslim militancy (Chechnya and other states)?

Martel’s conclusion to the column was most disturbing. While he concedes that a war with Iran would be horrible, he says it would be worse if Iran develops nuclear weapons. Bad, yes, but what to do? Since many military experts, including some in Israel, argue that a bombing campaign would do nothing ultimately to halt Iran’s nucelar program, is Martel advocating a ground war in Iraq? And is that what Ayotte wants to keep on the table?

Unlike Hagel, neither Ayotte or Martel has any combat experience.

TIMOTHY FRAZER

Concord