Hagel told reporters that he's known Afghan President Hamid Karzai for 11 years and he expects to talk with him about many topics, including the recent restrictions on U.S. Special Operations Forces.

"We're still at war in Afghanistan," he said, although it was never the United States' intention to stay indefinitely.

Many in Congress, including several high-ranking members of his Republican Party, opposed Hagel's nomination; the final vote in the Senate was 58-41.

Besides not liking his past comments about Israel and Iran, they bristled at his comments over the years about Iraq and Afghanistan, some of which came after the 2008 trip.