THE PROJECT FOR THE NEW AMERICAN CENTURY
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CONTENTS: ------------------------------
INTRODUCTION:
AMERICAN LEADERSHIP, AMERICAN EMPIRE The Project for the New American
Century (PNAC) is a Washington-based neo-conservative think-tank founded
in 1997 to "rally support for American global leadership."
PNAC's agenda runs far deeper than regime change in Iraq. Its statement
of principles begins with the assertion that "American foreign
and defense policy is adrift" and calls for "a Reaganite policy
of military strength and moral clarity." While their tone is high-minded,
their proposal is unilateral military intervention to protect against
threats to America's status as the lone global superpower. The statement
is signed by such influential figures as Dick Cheney, Jeb Bush, Lewis
"Scooter" Libby, Dan Quayle, Donald Rumsfeld, and Paul Wolfowitz.
PNAC is not alone, nor did it
arise from new wells of power. Most of the founding members of PNAC
held posts in the Reagan or elder Bush administration and other neo-conservative
think-tanks, publications, and advocacy groups. The effect of PNAC's ideology
is great on Bush -- the presidential candidate who promised a "humble,"
isolationist foreign policy. The events of September 11, 2001 provided
a window of opportunity for furthering PNAC's agenda of American empire.
Understanding that agenda can help us anticipate the Bush administration's
next steps and organize accordingly. ------------------------------
ONE LINK ------------------------------
FORMING THE
BUSH DOCTRINE In 1992, Paul Wolfowitz, then-Under
Secretary of Defense for Policy, authored an internal policy brief on
America's military posture in the post-Cold War era: to prevent the
emergence of a new rival power through preemption rather than containment
and acting unilaterally if necessary to protect U.S. interests. When
a draft was leaked to the press, controversy erupted and the report
had to be softened. The web accompaniment to the
PBS Frontline special "The War Behind Closed Doors" features
an excellent chronology showing how Wolfowitz's draft would become the
basis of the Bush Doctrine. ------------------------------
PAX AMERICANA RAD rejects cuts in defense
spending, insisting that "Preserving the desirable strategic situation
in which the United States now finds itself requires a globally preeminent
military capability both today and in the future." Core missions
for the U.S. military include the ability to "fight and decisively
win multiple, simultaneous major theater wars" and to reposition
permanent forces in Southeast Europe and Southeast Asia. Other samples from RAD: "The United States has
for decades sought to play a more permanent role in Gulf regional security.
While the unresolved conflict with Iraq provides the immediate justification,
the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends
the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein." "At present the United
States faces no global rival. America's grand strategy should aim to
preserve and extend this advantageous position as far into the future
as possible." "[N]ew methods of attack
-- electronic, 'non-lethal,' biological -- will be more widely available
... 'combat' likely will take place in new dimensions: in space, 'cyber-space,'
and perhaps the world of microbes ... advanced forms of biological warfare
that can 'target' specific genotypes may transform biological warfare
from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool." In this Atlanta Journal-Constitution
opinion piece, Jay Bookman compares "Rebuilding America's Defenses"
with the current Bush defense policy. You can read the entire document
on PNAC's website. ------------------------------
SEPTEMBER 11,
2001 Shortly after September 11,
PNAC sent a letter to President Bush welcoming his call for "a
broad and sustained campaign" and encouraging the removal of Saddam
even if Iraq could not be directly linked to the attacks. ------------------------------
WHO'S STEERING
THIS SHIP? PAUL WOLFOWITZ is Deputy Defense
Secretary, second-in-command at the Pentagon. Wolfowitz was promoting
regime change in Iraq and a strategy of preemptive attack in 1992, but
the elder Bush rejected his views as too radical. This is an excellent
brief from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. RICHARD PERLE was Assistant
Secretary of Defense in the Reagan administration and a foreign policy
adviser in George W. Bush's presidential campaign. He accepted Rumsfeld's
offer to chair the Defense Policy Board, transforming it from obscurity
to influence. In March, Perle resigned as chairman after a controversial
lobbying scandal, but remains on the Board as a member. WILLIAM KRISTOL is editor of
The Weekly Standard, a conservative political magazine with a small
but elite readership, funded by Rupert Murdoch. The son of neo-conservative
founding father Irving Kristol, he is the president of PNAC. Other important participants
are Vice-President Dick Cheney; Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld; Iran-contra
scandal convict Elliott Abrams, now Director of Middle East Affairs
for the National Security Council; Washington Post columnist Robert
Kagan; and special presidential envoy to Afghanistan and Iraq Zalmay
Khalilzad. A fairly complete list of PNAC
participants can be found here: ------------------------------
WHO PAYS THE
BILLS? ------------------------------
PAX ISRAELICA? This essay describes many of
the familiar neo-conservatives as having "dual loyalties,"
making policy decisions in the interests of the State of Israel as much
as the United States. ------------------------------
POST-WAR IRAQ ------------------------------
NEO-CONSERVATISM Similar overlap is found among
all the neo-conservative think-tanks -- Hudson Institute, Center for
Security Policy, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Middle East
Forum, and Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs -- giving
the agenda of a few political elites the appearance of widespread agreement.
------------------------------
WHAT NEXT --
SYRIA? IRAN? ------------------------------
CHALLENGING
THE PROJECT FOR THE NEW AMERICAN CENTURY ------------------------------
CONCLUSION Money makes it easy to organize
networks and gain political influence; control of the media limits our
ability to consider the various options America has for handling crises
in the international community. The work we are doing as MoveOn members
is organizing without massive wealth and educating without owning the
media. Our work is to vocalize the love of democratic decision-making
shared by all people, clearly and with the most complete information.
Please let us know what information you need to do this work, and we
will do our best to make it available through the bulletin. ------------------------------ CREDITS Editing team: ------------------------------
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