REWARDING FAILURE

Gen. Casey was nominated by Pres. Fredo to be Army Chief of Staff. As Senators Levin and McCain point out, he is one of the people most responsible for our failed military policy in Iraq:

(From Lexis-Nexis)

Copyright 2007 Federal News Service, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Federal News Service
February 1, 2007 Thursday
SECTION: CAPITOL HILL HEARING

LENGTH: 35300 words

HEADLINE: HEARING OF THE SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE;
SUBJECT: THE NOMINATION OF GENERAL GEORGE CASEY TO BE ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF;
CHAIRED BY: SENATOR CARL LEVIN (D-MI);
WITNESS: THE NOMINEE;
LOCATION: 325 RUSSELL SENATE OFFICE BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C.

SEN. LEVIN:General Casey is well-known to members of this committee and to the American people as commanding general, Multinational Forces Iraq, in which capacity he has served for over two and a half years. ... As commander in Iraq, General Casey is, of course, identified with the administration's Iraq strategy. His focus was on training and equipping Iraqi security forces to bring them as quickly as possible to a level where they could relieve American forces from the burden of providing the security that Iraqis should be providing for themselves.

In this strategy, he was joined by his boss, Central Command Commander General Abizaid, and his subordinate, the Corps commander, Lieutenant General Chiarelli.


SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ):... I do question some of the decisions and judgments you've made over the past two and a half years as commander of Multinational Forces in Iraq. During that time, things have gotten markedly and progressively worse, and the situation in Iraq can now best be described as dire and deteriorating. ... The result of these and other missteps have been unprecedented levels of violence in Iraq and a pervasive lack of security that prohibits political and economic activity.

In case you aren't getting the point, here's a bit from Sen. Graham's questioning of Casey:

SEN. GRAHAM: What percentage of the country would it be impossible for an American to walk down the street without being afraid of getting shot at or killed?

GEN. CASEY: Probably about half actually, Senator.