Jack Keane

General John F. (Jack) Keane served 37 years in the U.S. Army, rising to the rank of four-star General. He held the position of the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army (Joint Chiefs of Staff) from 1999 to 2003.

Keane is the "military mastermind of President George W. Bush's new troop 'surge' strategy for Iraq." [1] Keane and Frederick Kagan co-authored the Choosing Victory. A Plan for Success in Iraq "strategy paper", which was published December 14, 2006, by the American Enterprise Institute. [2]

Keane is also one of three retired four-star generals reported to have declined the offer to become "war czar" "to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with authority to issue directions to the Pentagon, the State Department and other agencies." [3]

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Controversy

On torture

"In the summer of 2002, Defense Department officials, unhappy with the quality of intelligence they were getting from Guantanamo, sent Gen. Keane to conduct an assessment." In July 2005, Keane told PBS's FRONTLINE that "he learned that the military intelligence and military police on the base were not working well together, and he recommended bringing in a single commander to unify the command. His recommendation was accepted, and the assignment was given to Gen. Geoffrey D. Miller. 'When Gen. Miller got introduced to Guantanamo Bay, everything just seemed to move into the plus category from the time he got there,' Keane [said]. 'Everyone that went down there to look at it saw improvement....'" [4]

Profiles

According to his 2006 American Enterprise Institute speaker's biography for "Choosing Victory: A Plan for Success in Iraq":

"General Jack Keane is senior managing director and co-founder of Keane Advisors, LLC, a private equity and consulting firm. He serves as a national security analyst for ABC News and speaks throughout the nation on national security and leadership. Still active in national security, General Keane conducted a personal assessment of the security situation in Iraq for senior defense officials in 2004 and 2005, and will conduct another assessment in 2006. He has been elected to the board of directors of MetLife, General Dynamics, and Allied Barton Security. He is a senior advisor to Kholberg, Kravis and Roberts, one of the nation’s largest private equity firms. He is also an advisor to the chairman & CEO of URS Corporation. He is a member of the Secretary of Defense’s Policy Board, a commissioner for one year on the Congressional Commission on the National Guard and Reserves, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, director of the George C. Marshall Foundation, director of the Knollwood Foundation, a member of the Executive Committee of the Pentagon Memorial Fund, chairman of the Terry Maude Foundation, and chairman of Senior Executive Committee of the Army Aviation Association of America. ...

"General Keane was in the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, and provided oversight and support for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. General Keane is a career paratrooper and a combat veteran of Vietnam who was decorated for valor and spent much of his military life in operational commands employed in Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, and Kosovo. He commanded the famed 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and the legendary 18th Airborne Corps, the Army’s largest war fighting organization."

Keane's 2004 Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab bio states:

"General Keane was a career paratrooper who commanded at every level to include the 18th Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg, NC; the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) and Fort Campbell, KY; and the Joint Readiness Training Center. He also served as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the United States Atlantic Command prior to becoming the Army's Vice Chief of Staff, and was featured in Tom Clancy's book, AIRBORNE. ...

"General Keane graduated from Fordham University business school in 1966 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting and holds a Masters of Arts Degree in Philosophy from Western Kentucky University. His military education includes the Infantry Officers Basic and Advanced Courses, the United States Army Command and General Staff College, and the United States Army War College. General Keane is the recipient of an honorary PH.D in Law from Fordham University and an honorary PH.D in Public Service from Eastern Kentucky University."

Other Affiliations

• Board Member, Defense Policy Board (2004)(2006)
• Board Member, FedBid (2004)
• Advisory Board, Spirit of America

Articles by Jack Keane

• With Bing West (Francis West) and Jeffrey White, "Insurgency and Counterinsurgency in Iraq: A Progress Report," Policy Watch/Washington Institute for Near East Policy, August 1, 2005.
• With Frederick Kagan, "Choosing Victory. A Plan for Success in Iraq," American Enterprise Institute, December 14, 2006.
• With Frederick Kagan, "The Right Type of 'Surge'; Any Troop Increase Must Be Large and Lasting," Washington Post (American Enterprise Institute), December 27, 2006.

Related SourceWatch Resources

• McCain doctrine
• war in Iraq

External links

Profiles

• Speaker's Biography: General Jack Keane for "Choosing Victory: A Plan for Success in Iraq", American Enterprise Institute, 2006.
• Profile: General Jack Keane, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, 2004.
• Profile: Jack Keane, Keppler Speakers. Includes link to full bio.

Interviews

• "The Torture Question," PBS Frontline, July 15, 2005.

Articles & Commentary

• "Retired Army General John (Jack) Keane Joins FedBid Board of Advisors," FedBid, May 1, 2004.
• "AGA's PDC Off to a Successful Start in Orlando," AGA, July 11-13, 2005. Keane was keynote speaker; article contains summation of remarks.
• Sharon Behn, "50,000 Iraqi insurgents dead, caught," Washington Times, July 26, 2005.
• Wretchard, "All ye know on earth, and all ye need to know," The Belmont Club Blogspot, August 2, 2005.
• Toby Harnden and Alex Massie, "Generals say plans won't work in field," The Telegraph (UK), December 8, 2006.
• Toby Harnden, "Bush ready to send more troops to Iraq," The Telegraph (UK), December 16, 2006.
• Donald Sensing, "Bigger war for Iraq will be last chance," One Hand Clapping, December 17, 2006.
• Linda Chavez, "Finally, A plan for Iraq," Townhall.com, December 20, 2006.
• David Martin, "Iraq Plan Seeks Up To 20,000 More Troops. CBS News Exclusive: Details On The Defense Secretary's Recommendations To President," CBS News/Associated Press, January 5, 2007.
• Antarctic Lemur, "Introducing General Jack Keane," Sir Humphrey's Blog, January 8, 2007.
• "Neither Sawyer nor Keane noted Keane's previous view that 20,000-troop increase not enough," Media Matters for America, January 8, 2007.
• Glenn Greenwald, "ATTENTION: War supporters - your country needs you (updated below - updated again - updated again with responses)," Unclaimed Territory Blogspot, January 8, 2007.
• David Kerley, "The General Architect of the President's New Iraq Strategy," ABC News, January 10, 2007.
• Toby Harnden, "Analysis: Public face of the surge," The Telegraph (UK), January 12, 2007.
• Philip Sherwell, "US diluting Iraq surge, general says," The Telegraph (UK), January 14, 2007.
• Newsweek: "Army's Ex-Vice Chief of Staff Knew When He Stepped Down in '03 That 'We Were in Deep S---' With The Insurgency; Says 'Everyone Recognizes That We Made Mistakes ... The Harder Part is What to Learn From Them'," PRNewswire, January 14, 2007: "Drafter of Army's New Counterinsurgency Manual: 'We've Finished The Counterinsurgency Manual Just As Iraq Looks Like It's Heading For Civil War. We Don't Have A Doctrine For That'."
• Gideon Rachman, "The neo-cons' route to disaster," Financial Times, January 15, 2007.
• John Barry and Evan Thomas, "Blame for the Top Brass," Newsweek, January 15, 2007; January 22, 2007 (issue).
• Peter Baker and Thomas E. Ricks, "3 Generals Spurn the Position of War 'Czar'. Bush Seeks Overseer For Iraq, Afghanistan," Washington Post, April 11, 2007. Also see Jack Sheehan and Joseph W. Ralston

Whos Who, Spirit of America, accessed January 14, 2011.