(http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Components/Photo/_new/g-cvr-110113-hagel-644p.photoblog600.jpg)Mark Wilson / Getty Images fileDefense nominee Chuck Hagel is a decorated Vietnam combat veteran. ANALYSIS
By Jim Maceda, Correspondent, NBC NewsTEL AVIV, Israel -- Even before he was nominated to become the next US Secretary of Defense, the bad-mouthing of former Republican Senator Chuck Hagel (http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/07/16396436-obama-taps-american-patriot-hagel-for-pentagon-job?lite) had already begun.
Warnings flew like salvos across the US media and beyond: Hagel is soft on Iran, and no friend of Israel (http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/06/16379487-senators-signal-tough-fight-for-hagel?lite). Tea Party and Republican critics of the moderate and pragmatic Hagel smelled blood.
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