As we suspected, the same conflicted experts who called for US military strikes in Syria last year have taken to the airwaves to comment on Ukraine.
Last week, I looked at Stephen Hadley, whose ties to Raytheon and RiceHadleyGates have not been disclosed in multiple media appearances.
Another military-industrial pundit who is back for another go-round: Jack Keane, a retired Army General and Fox News military analyst with significant defense industry connections. Keane is known around PAI for his blithe descriptions of bombing Syria. From our report last fall:
Identified as: Retired Army General; vice chief of staff of the Army from 1999 to 2003; Board Chairman for the Institute for the Study of War; Fox News military analyst. He has also been described as “an influential advocate for the surge of troops in Iraq” and “serving in an advisory role in the U.S. occupation of Iraq.”
Undisclosed industry ties: Keane has been a director with major defense contractor General Dynamics since 2004. General Dynamics was the fourth largest military services company in the world in 201172 and received $15 billion in federal contracts in 2012, making it the fourth largest federal contractor. Keane is a venture partner with SCP Partners, a private equity firm targeting defense and security investments.
Keane was on Lou Dobbs Tonight last week. He had plenty to say about ensuring Putin “pay a price” for the situation in Ukraine, but he did not mention his personal financial stake in the defense industry:
DOBBS: Joining us now retired four-star Army general, former Army Vice Chief of Staff, General Jack Keane; also a Fox News military analyst. General – great to have you with us. Is it — is it your belief that — that Mr. Obama would be open now to putting the missile defense shield in Poland, in Czechoslovakia?
GEN. JACK KEANE, U.S. ARMY (Ret.): I suspect not Lou. I mean I think he moves very cautiously when he’s in this kind of crisis confrontation. And I think really he has to step up here. You know, fundamentally what we’re seeing here is 21st century global power politics played on a world stage and it’s a — it’s a test of wills and the truth is Putin understands that. He understands the psychology of it and we don’t seem to grasp it frankly.
So the fact of the matter is we should be doing things, reputational things to him not the United States not going to the G-8 we should oust him from the G-8 and oust him from the G-20. They wouldn’t be decisive but that would bother him.
And then there are decisive things that we can do away from the crisis. You just mentioned one about the missile defense. We could also accelerate Georgia into NATO which is moving slowly towards that end but we could put it on a fast track. And there’s things we can do about Syria, recommit ourselves to Syria where Putin is heavily engaged.
And then of course as your other guest have talked about there’s much we can do in terms of freezing personal assets, visas, denying travel and banking et cetera and you’ve cover all of that. But we have to do something Lou we just can’t talk about the escalation. We’re not doing something.
And I’m convinced that Putin should pay a price for what he has done. Even if he volunteers at some point to move away, there should be a price exerted for this or we’re going to see it again.
The day before, Keane was on Fox’s America’s Newsroom advocating for “retribution” and suggesting some ominous hypotheticals:
“[Putin] knows the United States has a leader who does not want to lead the world. And that’s different from our predecessors. This is global power politics and the fact of the matter is it’s fundamentally a test of wills. The psychological aspect is significant and our president has refused time and time again to step up to that. Our adversaries are watching this. This is the beginning of something here. China’s watching this, Iran is watching, and North Korea is watching as well,” said Keane.
In both appearances Keane was simply introduced as a retired Army General and Fox News military analyst. Keane’s positions at General Dynamics, the Institute for the Study of War, and other defense dependent firms are relevant to his discussion of national security issues and should be disclosed as a matter of public interest.
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