Grand military strategy deemed unrealistic

The containment strategy that the U.S. used against the Soviet Union in the years following WWII may not be so useful in today's environment.

"We do not have a monolithic threat. We are facing a multitude of challenges...I have difficulty envisioning an overall grand strategy that relates to all these challenges and, most importantly, defines our response," said former Army Vice Chief of Staff General Jack Keane during a hearing with the House Armed Services Committee on consideration for an American grand strategy.

"It's not that we cannot conceive of a grand strategy that encompasses our multifaceted challenges, we can, but it would be so overarching that I think it would lose a sense of realism and practicality."

The hearing comes months before a change in presidential administrations, an event that the committee believes will provide an opportunity to reevaluate the current approach to defense. Keane discussed necessary changes.

"We have to take away some vital lesson...post conflict operations are every bit as important as the conflict itself and we are painfully aware of that. Therefore, we have to have structures in our military and capabilities to deal with that better than what we have now."

Senators debate progress made in Iraq

The Senate Armed Services Committee today held a hearing focused on Iraq political reconciliation benchmarks. The Committee questioned Dr. Andrew Bacevich, General John Keane, and Dr. Robert Malley about issues concerning the progress made by the Government of Iraq, their thoughts about the statements made yesterday by General David Petraeus, and of course U.S. success since first entering Iraq.

Both Committee members, including presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), and the panelists, were split on their views about U.S. progress in Iraq, particularly since the highly publicized "surge" in American involvement.

Chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) discussed his feelings that we need to help make Iraq stable enough to function independently. "We cannot do for Iraqi's. They must do for themselves," Levin explained. Keane focused on the success the U.S. has had, describing Iraq in 2006 as "hell" and saying we are on the right course toward completely eliminating Al Qaeda forces in the northern part of the country.

McCain emphasized that pulling out of Iraq now would be the wrong choice for the U.S. to make.