Gen. Keane: enemies underestimate U.S.

• Author: Book, Elizabeth G.
• Position: Washington Pulse

The September 11 attacks were a "tactical victory" for al Qaeda, but also a "strategic failure, because it will bring about the complete destruction of their infrastructure," said Army Gen. John Keane.

"They believe we are vulnerable as a people, as a government and as a military, to this kind of incursion, because they believe we are morally weak," Keane, the Army's vice chief of staff, said in a recent speech. "They have miscalculated about this, ironically, similar to the same miscalculation that the Japanese and the Germans made during World War II."

The Germans, Keane said, "were almost flippant about the United States military's capabilities. They were caught up in their own errors. The Japanese were also very arrogant in their understanding of America," he said.

"An...