- Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN)
- Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)
- Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
- Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)
- Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
- Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
- Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO)
- Sen. Jim Bunning (R-KY)
- Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA)
- Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK)
- Sen. Gordon Smith (R-OR)
- Sen. John Sununu (R-NH)
These are the senators who voted against the confirmation of George Casey to be Chief of Staff of the United States Army.
The Chief of Staff of the Army is the institutional head of the Army. Soldiers everywhere know that the Chief of staff should represent the ideal of an American soldier in terms of character, devotion to duty, soldierly virtue and devotion to the public good rather than his own interests. The Chief of Staff by example sets the standard by which American soldiers judge themselves.
The Chief of Staff is also a member of the committee of the Joint Chiefs of Staff which advises the president as a body with regard to their collective and individual military judgment on issues of state. Nevertheless, it as "Grand Master of the Order" that the Chief of Staff plays his greatest role.
George Casey is probably a fine man, a man of honor, a man deserving of many things, but in his consistent failure to accurately inform the Congress of the United States and the citizens of the United States of the real situation in Iraq he fails the "Marshall Test" for me.
George Marshall sets the standard. He built the US Army and Air Forces that won World War Two. He was unafraid, modest, humble and without interest in currying favor with politicians. He told Franklin Roosevelt, who appointed him Chief of Staff, that he should not call him George, even in private, because it might be necessary in the course of the war for Roosevelt to fire him and he did not want their personal relationship to be a problem if that were necessary. When he was Secretary of State he rebuked Dean Rusk, his assistant, for not correcting him in public when he misspoke. Rusk said that he had not wanted to "hurt Marshall's feelings." Marshall replied that he "had no feelings other than those reserved for Mrs. Marshall." He was absurdly libeled by the egregious Joe McCarthy, and never said or wrote a word in reply. Never... I could go on.
These twelve senators did the right thing. I hope that those who voted the other way, supporting the nomination of a man who "knew which way the wind blew" will not regret it. pl
