One of Ours

...WALLACE: As a senator, do you think we have reached that stage [where Rumsfeld should resign]?

Senator Evan Bayh: No, Chris, I don't, and for the following reason, having thought about his response, I don't really think that his stepping down would placate those in the Arab world who have a problem with us at this point...I don't think Donald Rumsfeld ought to be made a scapegoat for that. Finally, I'd say, Chris, I suspect that if he does step down, it's going to be to try to alleviate any political problems the president has. And that's not an honorable way to do things. You don't throw a subordinate over the side just to save your own skin. So as long as he's carrying out the president's policies, and the president is satisfied with his behavior, then it's for the president to keep him...

[...]

WALLACE: Senator McCain, same question to you. What do you think Secretary Rumsfeld should do? Should he step down, and who should decide?

Sen. John McCain: I think it's the president's decision...I think it would be very premature. I, as I said, I think Secretary Rumsfeld is an honorable man who has served his country for many, many years...I certainly think it would be terribly premature to call for his resignation at this time...

[...]

MCCAIN: ...America is defined by its greatness, its goodness, and one of those factors is defined by our treatment of our enemies. We cannot be equated with those people. That's why we're in Iraq, to bring them a better life, to bring them freedom and democracy in an open society...

[...]

WALLACE: ...As you well know, some people are saying, "Let's not go overboard here. The treatment of prisoners all across the Middle East is far worse than what went on at Abu Ghraib, and you, perhaps, suffered much worse treatment during your five years in Vietnam." How do you respond to that?

MCCAIN: I respond by saying America's greatness is defined by the treatment of our enemies. And if we came to Iraq to install a regime, or just replace one authoritarian regime with another that's not quite so bad, it's not worth the sacrifice of over 700 American lives.

And we came there as a beacon of hope and liberty. And many of these kinds of words are being disparaged by many so-called "realists" now. But that's what America's all about. And if we treated prisoners the same way that — or to a lesser degree, but in a violation of the rules of war, and the clearly laid out Geneva Conventions, then we have to apologize, and we have to make sure that it never happened again.

And, again, to state the obvious, Chris, these young men and women are superb. They're wonderful. They're magnificent. Pat Tillman, I will celebrate his life and mourn his death for as long as I live. And their reputations are besmirched by this...