General Casey, Part 2--Arianna Huffington

What started out as a broad-reaching hearing over the state of today's military soon focused sharply on the issue of military detainees. Gen. Casey of the Joint Chiefs of Staff defended the current stance on maintaining military tribunals instead of turning these detainees over to civilian judges, as President Obama advocated for in his State of the Union address.

"Many of us in the Armed Services sympathize with the President's goals to close Guantanamo," he stated, but added that "in terms of national security, I don't think that moving people will resolve anything in the short term."

He also addressed the SHEEN Act, which advocates energy efficiency in the military, stressing that he was concerned that "we wouldn't be able to afford it."

Answering a question from Sen. Chambliss (R-GA) about the supply chain which would allow the military to afford these advanced technologies, Casey explained the logistical difficulty of keeping track of technology with multiple functionalities. "Having one more distinction to keep track of," he stated, "really only adds to the operational burdens in an already challenging environment."

Ultimately, the debate over transforming the military into a peacekeeping force for the 21st century hinges on the overall cost of these military reforms.