Circling the (Carlyle) wagons

From a dkos diary (which I can't locate at the moment), an ominous development which should be followed more closely by media.

The Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday morning will consider the nomination of Francis Harvey to be secretary of the Army. The White House nominated Harvey for the position on Sept. 14. Harvey, a longtime defense industry executive, has no military experience.

Harvey currently serves on the boards of three companies backed by the Carlyle Groups, a private equity firm with ties to influential Republicans, including George H.W. Bush. Prior to that, he was at Westinghouse where he filled a number of senior executive positions. Observers say the nomination is resented by many service officials and some members of Congress who wonder why the White House would consider installing a new secretary a month prior to the presidential election and in the middle of a war.

So what the hell is going on?

A quick Google brings up more interesting info. Apparently, Harvey was nominated for another military position but McCain held up the confirmation.

But Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) held up Harvey’s confirmation, and the confirmations of other Defense nominations, in an attempt to put pressure on DOD to turn over documents concerning the multibillion-dollar Air Force/Boeing Co. aircraft tanker deal.

And it looks like Warner, another of the traditional Republicans, doesn't like the guy either. Good thing, too, because Harvey is well-connected, in that military-industrial complex kind of way.

Harvey, in his mid-60s, is on the board of directors of Duratek of Columbia, Md., a company that treats hazardous waste and is owned in part by the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm with ties to retired but influential Republican officials.

A Los Gatos, Calif., resident, Harvey also serves on the boards of two other companies controlled by the Carlyle Group: Kuhlman Electric Corp. and The IT Group.

Prior to these positions, Harvey was chief operating officer of the $6 billion Industries and Technology Group of Westinghouse. While at Westinghouse he served as president of the Electronics Systems Groups in Baltimore, which was later acquired by Northrop Grumman.

Sure looks like BushCo is trying to get another fox in the henhouse.

Update: After going through 20 pages of diaries, I finally found the entry. Comments rock; someone actually lists former secretaries and their military backgrounds. What an amazing resource dailykos has become.