Former Sen. Chuck Hagel told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee Thursday that, if confirmed as Defense Secretary, he remains “fully committed” to “preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.” The Nebraska Republican said he “agreed with multilateral sanctions against Iran,” because he believes they “have an effect.” However, he acknowledged that he made past decisions on unilateral sanctions against Iran on a “case-by-case” basis. Hagel stumbled at one point during the hearing, saying he supported a “containment” policy against Iran, but later offered a correction: “I misspoke and said I supported the President’s position on containment. If I said that, I meant to say we don’t have a position on containment.” Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) asked if Hagel believed “all options should be on the table when we confront Iran,” to which Hagel responded, “absolutely.” Hagel also reiterated his belief that Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism. (Hagel’s responses to advance policy questions)
As with previous stealth aircraft unveilings, the Air Force’s imagery of the F-47 Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter has been doctored to keep adversaries guessing about its true shaping and design philosophy.