President Barack Obama’s possible pick of Republican Chuck Hagel to run the Pentagon is raising serious concerns among some of his former Senate colleagues.

They question his pronouncements on Iraq, Israel and the Middle East.

The reservations publicly expressed by a few Republicans and even a Democrat hardly rival the unyielding GOP objections to U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice. She withdrew from consideration last week for secretary of state in the face of relentless attacks, mostly over her public statements about the Sept. 11 assault on the diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.

But opposition to Hagel among Senate Republicans appears to be growing.

Hagel served 12 years in the Senate where he nurtured a reputation for independence. If nominated and confirmed by the Senate, he would replace Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

(AP)