Chuck Hagel, the GOP's John Kerry?

If you're a so-called "moderate" Republican and you want to become president, what's the best way to get the media to pay attention to you? Proclaim that Iraq is the new Vietnam, of course. You're guaranteed to get positive press coverage, and lots of it. Here's how the story of Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel's appearance on ABC begins:

A leading Republican senator and prospective presidential candidate said Sunday that the war in Iraq has destabilized the Middle East and is looking more like the Vietnam conflict from a generation ago.

Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, who received two Purple Hearts and other military honors for his service in Vietnam, reiterated his position that the United States needs to develop a strategy to leave Iraq.

Notice something familiar? It seemed like every article about John Kerry included some mention of his Vietnam medals, and now we're seeing the same thing with Hagel. Will he become the GOP's version of Kerry? We'll see.

Hagel also had good news for all of our service men and women in Iraq - we're not winning:

Hagel scoffed at the idea that U.S. troops could be in Iraq four years from now at levels above 100,000, a contingency for which the Pentagon is preparing.

"We should start figuring out how we get out of there," Hagel said on "This Week" on ABC. "But with this understanding, we cannot leave a vacuum that further destabilizes the Middle East. I think our involvement there has destabilized the Middle East. And the longer we stay there, I think the further destabilization will occur."

Hagel said "stay the course" is not a policy. "By any standard, when you analyze 2 1/2 years in Iraq ... we're not winning," he said.

So let me see if I understand what Hagel said. We need to get out of Iraq because we're destabilizing the Middle East, but we can't get out of Iraq because we'll destabilize the Middle East. Can I buy a vowel?

Just what we need - another defeatist Vietnam Vet Senator who thinks he ought to be president. The GOP is going to have to come up with somebody better than this guy.