Talk about a predictable political tactic. Senator John McCain’s (R-AZ) attack on General George Casey & the other U.S.military leaders in Iraq at the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing is classic political ducking and dodging on the part of Senator McCain. In August of 2004 during a prime time speech on the opening night of the Republican Convention, McCain strongly endorsed Mr. Bush’s Iraq policies. In spite of the failed Bush war policies, as a pro Iraq war hawk, the Senator predicted in 2003: "I believe that this conflict is still going to be relatively short." As a presidential candidate he also fully backed President Bush’s plan of sending more troops to Iraq. He has been committed to Mr. Bush’s policies. But when the Iraq war goes badly over the long months following these policies, the Senator blames General Casey and the military leaders, but refuses to take any responsibility for failed policies. By the way, in 2006 Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney couldn’t say enough good things about General Casey.

At the hearing the presidential hopeful said he blamed General Casey and the other generals for the problems in Iraq saying things had "gotten markedly and progressively worse." Not once did he blame the Commander in Chief, President Bush, who set the policy and whose policies he supported. Making General Casey and the other generals the "whipping boy" to cover their own misjudgments is cowardly even for a Presidential hopeful running for office. Lets be real. We have seen that when the Iraq policy is criticized, Mr. Bush says he following the advice of his generals. When the war policies fail, it’s the military leaders are blamed. The Senator, having backed Mr. Bush’s policies, hides behind his attempts to make General Casey and the other generals his scape goat. It was Hubert H. Humphrey who said "To err is human. To blame someone else is politics." If character is the prime quality of a president, Senator McCain fails the test.