Ex-General Briefs Many White House Hopefuls

Retired Army Gen. John Keane, a proponent of the troop surge in Iraq and an adviser to the command there,

tells The Examiner he met with Sen. Hillary Clinton several weeks ago to brief her on the war.

A self-described independent, Keane also has briefed Republicans Fred Thompson and John McCain. He has not spoken with Democratic Sen. Barack Obama.

While he was Army vice chief of staff, Keane said, he picked Clinton out as a powerhouse.

“I knew she was not the normal freshman senator,” he said. When briefed on the military, “she jumped all over it.”

Keane helped plan the current troop surge in Iraq and helped persuade President Bush to boost the size of the Army by 65,000 soldiers.