Obviously this is a really bad call on McCain’s part, especially since the Joint Chiefs have recently said, very explicitly, that members of the military should not be involved with these political campaigns…
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has written an unusual open letter to all those in uniform, warning them to stay out of politics as the nation approaches a presidential election in which the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will be a central, and certainly divisive, issue.
“The U.S. military must remain apolitical at all times and in all ways,” wrote the chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen, the nation’s highest-ranking officer. “It is and must always be a neutral instrument of the state, no matter which party holds sway.”
Admiral Mullen’s essay appears in the coming issue of Joint Force Quarterly, an official military journal that is distributed widely among the officer corps. Read on...
The blog author goes on to point out that Rudy Giuliani was admonished for using Petraeus in one of his ads during the GOP primary race without permission. This sort of thing does not sit well with the DoD, but it's not unusual for Republicans to stoop to using the military for political gain, especially in Bushworld. Petraeus was not happy about appearing in Rudy's ad so the question remains -- did Petraeus approve of this ad? If not, I would imagine he would ask Senator McCain to cease and desist immediately as he did with Giuliani.
