Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
The issues discussed on this blog are wide-ranging even though at base we are all about upholding the Constitution and ensuring civil liberties. The disputed election of a President began this millennium in controversy, underlined by a horrific terrorist attack and the prosecution of two unnecessary wars. These wars have lasted longer than any other American war save for the Viet Nam debacle. They have resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of civilians, more than eight thousand of our troops, tens of thousands of soldiers with crippling injuries and unprecedented suicide rates among both active and inactive members of our armed forces. Trillions of dollars have been wasted on these adventures in the imperialistic pursuit of empire and no end is in sight, although our complicit corporate media has ceased to find interest in coverage of the continuing devastation.
As we know the linchpin for these phony wars was the attack on 9/11 by a team of Saudi Arabians purportedly working for Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda. However, the blueprint for this endless quest for America Hegemony was made public in 1997 with the publishing of the manifesto for the Project for the New American Century (PNAC). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_for_the_New_American_Century . This conceptualization laid out plans for a putative American Empire and its’ signatories prominently included those who would become part of the administration of George W. Bush. A list of those signatories will continue after the page break, with the most prominent in bold links.
Project for the New American Century Signatories:
Name Position(s) held Elliott Abrams Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Democracy, Human Rights, and International Operations (2001–2002), Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Near East and North African Affairs (2002–2005), Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy (2005–2009) (all within the National Security Council) Richard Armitage Deputy Secretary of State (2001–2005) John R. Bolton Under-Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs (2001–2005), U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (2005–2006) Dick Cheney Vice President (2001–2009) Eliot A. Cohen Member of the Defense Policy Advisory Board (2007–2009)[62] Seth Cropsey Director of the International Broadcasting Bureau (12/2002-12/2004) Paula Dobriansky Under-Secretary of State for Global Affairs (2001–2007) Aaron Friedberg Deputy Assistant for National Security Affairs and Director of Policy Planning, Office of the Vice President (2003–2005) Francis Fukuyama Member of The President’s Council on Bioethics (2001–2005) Zalmay Khalilzad U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan (11/2003 – 6/2005), U.S. Ambassador to Iraq (6/2005 – 3/2007) U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (2007–2009) I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby Chief of Staff to the Vice President of the United States (2001–2005) Richard Perle Chairman of the Board, Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee (2001–2003) Peter W. Rodman Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security (2001–2007) Donald Rumsfeld Secretary of Defense (2001–2006) Randy Scheunemann Member of the U.S. Committee on NATO, Project on Transitional Democracies, International Republican Institute Paul Wolfowitz Deputy Secretary of Defense (2001–2005) 10th President of the World Bank (2005-2007) Dov S. Zakheim Department of Defense Comptroller (2001–2004) Robert B. Zoellick Office of the United States Trade Representative (2001–2005), Deputy Secretary of State (2005–2006), 11th President of the World Bank (2007–Present). And in addition: John Ellis “Jeb” Bush
Many of these people today are closely connected to the Romney Campaign as foreign policy advisors and indeed Romney’s foreign policy designs seem to dovetail nicely with those of the “now defunct” PNAC. Perhaps it is not surprising that the Romney websites’ section on foreign policy is titled: “An American Century” http://www.mittromney.com/collection/foreign-policy . If you follow the links for both PNAC and for the Romney Campaign you will see almost identical policy aims and an overlapping cast of characters.
Now it is well known on this blog that I personally support Barack Obama for President so I understand that some will call me to task for my hypocrisy in doing so, since I decry the similarities between Obama’s foreign policy, his predecessor’s and indeed PNAC. In this respect my views do not represent those of this blog, its proprietor and even other guest bloggers. To the hypocrisy charge I have two responses:
The first is that my concerns in this coming election focus primarily on domestic policy, women’s rights, gay rights, prejudice against non-whites and finally upon the inequality represented by the privileges of the 1% of our country and the economic oppression of the remaining 99%. In this respect I believe the chasm between the policies of the two candidates is immense. Secondly though, It has been my long time belief that since the “60’s” United States Foreign Policy has been under the control of the 1% as represented by the Military/Industrial/Corporate Complex and thus is out of the hands of any given President. With the George W. Bush Administration this power came to fruition via the response to 9/11 and in panicked legislation like the “Patriot Act”. I believe that President Obama’s power has been limited by the cabal that took charge of our country after JFK’s assassination and whose successors continue to wield power extra-legally. I made that clear in this guest blog from 3/17/12. http://jonathanturley.org/2012/03/17/a-real-history-of-the-last-sixty-two-years/#more-46802
Today the steady drumbeat to attack Iran and to replace the regime in Syria is played out by a press coverage that laps up the propaganda about these countries and our duty to intervene in them, fed by people considered being the “serious people” of US foreign policy. I hold no brief for either Iran or Syria, which are countries run by despots and where human rights simply don’t exist. However, the country that equals their human rights abuses and their despotism is to my mind our closest ally in the Middle East, namely Saudi Arabia. The horrific excesses in the Sudan and in Namibia recall The Shoah, yet we feel no compunction to intervene there. Please also don’t get me started on the North Korean despots and their nuclear weapons, which because of their poverty and lack of oil fall off the radar of those who would have the US be the “world’s policeman”.
What started me in the direction of this guest blog was a video supplied by Russ Baker’s superb investigative website WhoWhatWhy http://whowhatwhy.com/ The video is of former General Wesley Clark, from 2007. General Clark http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_Clark_presidential_campaign,_2004 discusses the fact that his contacts in the Pentagon over a period of years beginning in 1999, told him that US Military Policy was the imposition of American Hegemony and the replacement of the governments of Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Syria and other countries in the interests of US economic and military power. He connects this “secret” policy with PNAC and their belief that the US should become an Imperial Empire. I would urge you to spend the time to hear General Clark’s point of view and then comment on its validity.
My personal belief is that our country is heading towards becoming a feudalistic empire in the model of ancient Rome. The Romans were masters of warfare and of engineering. With the most powerful armed forces of their time they created an empire almost matchless in world history and imposed their pax romana on a vast geographical scale. While in high school this was taught as a “good thing” for the backward barbarians of the world, the reality was it was an empire built upon cruelty, venality, and oppression, whose citizens were distracted by bread and circuses. I despair at times when I see the similarity between the Roman Republic that Caesar turned to Empire and to the American Republic that those behind PNAC are trying to turn in the same direction. This is occurring as we citizens are caught up in sports, celebrities and TV reality shows, as we decry our dwindling economic power and the growing unimportance of our opinions influencing our government. In this guest blog I’ve tried to make available the foundation on which my opinions are built with the hope that if this topic is of interest to you that you will follow the links to see whether you agree, or disagree with me. As we count down to another important election, we see that this imperialism is an issue that gets almost no coverage, I present this blog lest we forget those whose lives have been coldly sacrificed in this despicable and unnecessary enterprise, whose ultimate aim is imperial power.
Submitted by: Mike Spindell, guest blogger
Mike S.
That was BRILLIANTLY written….
and RIGHT on every point you made…..
when you put the 2 together… the Domestic and the Foreign policies…..
the last 20 years has seen LITTLE progress here and there…. and a LOT of downhill spiral…. people are MUCH less financially secure than they were 20 years ago, despite taxes being at an all time low…. LESS people are taking part in the (Myth of course) American Dream….
People are making less… and having to spend more, while Corporations are giving less to their employees and caring more about the CEO’s $50 million bonus’s and shareholders profits….
the bottom 50% of the USA is doing really poorly…. while the top 5% are doing really well….
It is injustice at it’s worst….
here in Sweden, we may have fewer millionaires…. BUT, the bottom 50% of the people here in Sweden, are living a MUCH higher standard of living, than the bottom 50% of the people in the USA….
Something has GOT to change…. and it has to happen QUICK….
I fear that if the Republicans get into the White House.. while the Democrats have a slim majority in the senate…. there will be NO way to stop the Republicans from deregulating more and dismantling the few protections that are in place…. opening up for fracking and drilling….
dismantling the EPA…..
This time around, they will go after Abortion Rights…. in the last 2 years they have put forth many many bills calling for restrictions on Abortion in quite a few states…. in fact they have been far more focused on that, rather than any jobs bills….
If they get in the White House…. that is the FIRST thing they will go after…. then it will be taxes…. MORE tax cuts….
and I have not even mentioned the wars…. and the defense budget that Paul Ryan wants to INCREASE….
Ohhhhhh…. it just scares me…. NOTHING GOOD can come of the Republicans winning in November…..
Did anyone ever think of what CBS stands for? The Raging Grannies do.
I grew up never knowing I was a libertarian, read books like 1984, always knowing I despised big govt. Then in 2007 I found Ron Paul and my life changed. Who would have believed a politician could have me reading great economists like Hayek, Rothbard, Block, Woods, Mises, etc. Since that time I grew to love & despair for the United States. I have watched professor Turley on tv many times, his thoughts on civil liberties I almost always agree with. So what has happened to your wonderful experiment with liberty? It has been systematically destroyed by despots like Lincoln, Hamilton, Wilson, FDR, Bush and egregiously Obama. I’m a Candadian and don’t consent to 90% of what my govt does either, but America had the most free founding in history and it has been wasted, by Imperialists, Marxists and the like. Individual freedom built America, and as the empire collapses (thank goodness) it’s disturbing to watch everyone turn to govt like a cornucopia, as if govt doesnt cause most problems in society. Remember those who give up liberty for security deserve neither. Neo-cons, socialist liberals and the like have removed all traces of a once great nation that now in all ways but few resembles fascist Italy, the USSR and in some ways Nazi Germany. Great people who want to restore freedom to people and rid the people of the Nanny State & Empire like Dr. Paul are shunned, and are libertarians perfect no, but you could be sure someone like Ron would have put the Empire to rest for four years. But alas, liberals love Obama, who will put people in jail without trial, assassinate Americans, or Romney who will likely be a bigger war monger than Obama, and is no more conservative than Woodrow Wilson was. The so called progressive era since Wilson and perhaps before has turned your bill of rights and constitution on its head, and the few that fight for it are ridiculed and shunned. I really hope Dr. Paul’s revolution rekindles the libertarian spirit in America more than it already has, the world needs liberty not the Nanny State.
General Wesley Clark When he ran for President in 2004, he was quite vocal about what Bush was doing … Richard Clark was also quite critical and backed up pretty much most of what General Clark had informed the public….
True to form, because these men came out against the Republicans plans of war and such…. the Republicans have gone about smearing BOTH of these men…..
of course this is NOT shocking, as that is what they do….
what gets me is that when you have a society that has such a wide wealth gap…. people have to know, that logically this will cause many problems….
I LOVE how they like to use catchy phrases like “Spread The Wealth” ….
well, fact is, if the wealth keeps going UP… and not out to the middle class pretty soon….. the USA will be DOOMED for sure….
Society can not run on Haves and Have NOT’S…..
also… the playing field is so out of whack, it will NEVER be close to being level again, in a very long time….
Lobbyists have made sure they stack the deck in favor of who has the most money…..
ONE thing that did disappoint me about Obama was the promise he made about Restricting Lobbyists from working in the White House … and restrict access….
Personally, I think that is one of the MAJOR issues today….
also, oil companies writing energy bills…. so that they can thwart regulation…. Banks writing their own rules…. and republicans blocking ANY FORM of regulation that would put forth some consumer protections, such as Payday loans…. not reinstating the Glas Stiegel Act…
Fact is….. there is SO much wrong and broken in the USA, and logic seems to be in the shortest supply…..
Critically looking at this piece I wrote I must state that I touched on, but did not fully emphasize the point that we have unnecessarily killed and maimed so many in these wars for the worst reasons possible. Having only avoided service in Viet Nam due to high blood pressure, I knew far too many people whose lives were either lost, or badly disrupted by that senseless war. That doesn’t count the multitude of South East Asians who were brutally dealt with by invasions to their land. Our invasion in Viet Nam tried to halt an indigenous struggle against imperialist exploitation that had lasted decades.
I feel the same about these Mid-East wars in the sense that who are we to arbitrarily decide who is fit to govern in those lands? In Iraq we had Saddam, a monster who seized power, yet managed to hold together a relatively secular state that allowed women some independence. I Iran there was a history of the CIA having overthrown a legitimate, democratically elected government, in order to install a Shah of dubious legitimacy, but closely tied to
Big Oil. When the Shah’s brutal regime, so long supported by the US, was overthrown can we blame the Iranian’s for seeing us an an enemy? This doesn’t excuse their own brutality and religious zealotry, but at least it is home-grown. And so it goes as the PNAC players of the “Great Game” maneuver to obtain a world dominance, that as in the case of Ancient Rome, will not benefit a vast majority of its own people.
For me in the end it comes back to lives lost and disrupted in the service of greed and power. The illusion of the nobility of humanity has long ago fallen away from my world view. Yet I’m a person of empathy towards my fellow humans and have spent my life in the attempt to alleviate human suffering, albeit on a small basis. I cannot help but think of those young men lured by false premises and limited career expectations into serving in an unjust, unneeded war, for the greater purposes of ego-maniacal seekers of fortune and power. They die, they’re maimed, they are disillusioned to the point of dysfunction and some kill themselves in despair. My empathy and my work experience allows me to visualize the pain that they and their families suffer. For the Iraqi’s and the Afghan’s whose lives have been ended, or permanently damaged, it is difficult to personally imagine the effect these wars have had upon them. Yet I can project how they must feel and I sense that it is devastating. In human history the common method used for millennium to encouraged killing of the “other” has been to de-personalize them into a hated mass. We can enter into a discussion of the nuances of these conflicts, but in the rhetoric of debate, we can’t lose sight of the effects of this destruction on individuals such as ourselves, once we do, then the evil minds behind PNAC can delude us into supporting our own brand of terror.
Mike
Great piece. Thank you.
This stuff would have never happened if LBJ was still president……
Richard Faust 1, August 25, 2012 at 8:15 am
Dredd: thank you for the response; but it ain’t merely bullying …
====================================
Fair enough.
But please consider that my concept of bullying is that sense advanced by George Orwell which your are free to read in a series (Bully Worship: The Universal Religion – 4).
Anyway, as Mike S posted: “Lest We Forget”, remember that the essence of imperial empire is bullying.
That is the sense I intended.
I did not intend to offend you by minimizing virtual or actual genocide by referring to it as bullying.
Thank you, Dredd. Over and out.
Mike S:
“My personal belief is that our country is heading towards becoming a feudalistic empire in the model of ancient Rome.”
********************
Timely article, Mike. The race to empire is usually fueled by the fear of the greater power over it’s own impotency in resolving the problems of its client states. (Glory seeking and plunder also play a role). Thus an insurrection Gaul requires Caesar to march republican troops to put down an uprising whose seeds remain intact after the conquest. Returning from the expedition after leaving a force to pacify the region, the powers that be realize a return will be inevitable, thus a standing army is required. An empire is now born. You can review the blueprint in Caesar’s Commentarii de Bello Gallico.
Everything evolves or devolves. Why should civilizations be any different?
Dredd, what you are missing is Faust’s deep, physiological need to dismiss Obama. This includes minimizing anything and everything he says or does as well as making illogical connections to reality and distortions of history that fit his goals.
As trolls go though he does a decent job of sounding reasonable and you did a reasonable job of responding. But don’t expect to get anywhere.
Oh, and under and in.
Frankly, wuzzup? Wot’s yer point, mate? C’mon to the East Side, bro’ and see wot you dun! Yah mon”, where I live and work prioritizing persecution and prosecution serves to divide those who the receptors of both. That is my point, sir. Watching Asians vs. Latinos. vs. Blacks vs. Indians, etc., etc, etc., = divide and conquer. In a word, that’s frankly, me boy!
Richard,
Yes, slavery is a form of bullying which we may have toned down as applied to Indian nations by the time we became the united states, however, we most certainly did not stop bullying them.
We simply focused our bullying on another nationality then perpetuated the slavery aspect of bullying.
And as you say, the bullying continues to the present day, but it has been toned down a lot, even though it is still background noise affecting the national music we have been trying to make.
Dredd: thank you for the response; but it ain’t merely bullying. It was not “toned down as applied to Indian nations by the time we became the United States.” My ancestors (Norwegian/Swedes) participated in the Dakota War (misnomer: not Dakota, but Oglalla Lakota) of 1862. In the aftermath, Red Cloud and the Oglalla Lakota were exiled to Dakota Territory. Today, South Dakota has many of the poorest counties in America. Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse never lost a battle against the U.S. Army (btw, I have been to both Gettysburg-age 13- and the Little Big Horn-age 9-, at each spot I felt big medicine). The two great Lakota chiefs knew that no matter how many times they defeated the “blue coats”, every brave they lost could not be replaced, while after each battle another trainload of “blue coats” traveled west. In order to save their nation, they surrendered. Sitting Bull (Hunkpapa Lakota) traveled with “Buffalo Bill Cody’s” Wild West Show, while Crazy Horse (Oglalla Lakota) was murdered in U.S. Army custody. This is not bullying, it is genocide. Over and out.
Dredd, well said, my mistake was to attribute the genocide of Indians to the Republic. That is to say, methinks that our discourse tends to ignore the indigenous genocide of our hemisphere, which tends to, in an ahistorical manner, prioritize murder. The genocide of Indians continued fifty years after the Emancipation Proclamation (e.g. Wounded Knee, etc.), and like the effects of black slavery/genocide, the effects of Indian genocide/slavery continue today. Over and out.
The United States began with the Declaration of Independence and following United States Constitution that was signed in September of 1787.
Prior to that, there were 13 colonies that operated much more loosely under the Articles of Confederation.
That is, “The United States” did not exist in the 1600’s.
The “original sin” was done when the United States was born in a manner that sanctioned liberty and slavery in the same dichotomy of breath, not even including women as part of the voting “free people.”
It was a sinful beginning, but a great deal of that has been cast out from our united states of mind.
A substantial portion of that striving for sanity was done in the wrong way, which was our second original sin, the Civil War.
“These wars have lasted longer than any other American war save for the Viet Nam debacle.”
The magazine Vanity Fair supports your thesis even more by saying:
(Vanity Fair). There is a good piece by Ta-Nehisi Coates that may shed some light on why Obama could not (socially / politically) end the wars:
(Atlantic). The bulk of the population has been saying we are going in the wrong direction, as a nation, since early in the Bush II regime, inspired no doubt by some of the PNAC ideology you pointed out Mike.
Memo to Obummer: our Republic’s “original sin” is to, in general, the genocide of Indians, and specifically, the Pequot War (1634-1638)–those Pequots who weren’t killed were sold into slavery into the West Indies–mostly to Barbados, where the Slave Code of 1661 was enacted. The Barbados Slave Code of 1661 marked the beginning of the English legal codification of slavery–remember the Spanish (the colony of Mexico) beat the Brits by 25 years with chattel slavery for Africans in 1636. “Never forget”, that the first chattel slaves in the Americas were Indians. Over and out.
From what I have seen, Obama has had to walk on eggshells ever since taking office. He must have had the plot hatched up by Prescott Bush and others to overthrow FDR on his mind. That plot could very well have worked had General Smedley Butler not blown the whistle on them. That plot grew out of the fact FDR wanted to implement controls on big business and give money and wages directley to the people in such a way that the big bankers and investors could not make any money off WPA, CCC and TVA. The money was going directly to the employees, so they felt FDR had to go. Obama must be keenly aware of all the moles embedded in the Executive Branch by the Bush crime family, Karl Rove, Lee Atwater and their owners and enablers. Those were the political operatives who switched from being appointed “at the pleasure of the President” employees to the civil service where it is almost impossible do dislodge them.
I have a feeling Obama has been reading up on how FDR managed to thwart the threat to overthrow the government, as well as how Harry Truman started kicking butt and taking names AFTER he was safely re-elected in 1948. These are perilous times, as it were, and I am not optimistic for the future of the republic unless Obama is able to rein in the moles and those who would destroy it. Here is a very interesting old video about General Butler. It is well worth your time to watch it.
I lean towards Zvyozdochka POV. However MikeS seeds land on well-tilled soil which I tend. I have cited Cheney’s speech calling for a “major event” to enable major advances in our armed forces capability, which was made two years in advance of 9/11.
I have recently mentioned the American policy moves and its implementation which suppport the idea of “Manifest Destiny”. And here comes a review of the modern version, plus names and links.
If we had a functioning leak system, there would be many supporting documents as well here to link and read.
A vote for Obama, indeed for any President, will not defeat the MI and surveillance phalanxes.
Societies must be built from the bottom, although they are deformed from the top.
Good work, Mike. Very important subject.
A look at the sentence with the word compunction might be necessary.
Excellent Mike Spindell.
I think the talking head Bill (Shia Sunni no big deal) Crystal, is a 4th estate mouthpiece for PNAC. I am curious if there are /were/ many direct links from PNAC to the press.
Powerfully put Mike, but you’re out of time. It’s the fifth stage of grief I think.
The US experiment is over. The neo-con’s and their Plutocrat masters declared victory as the Banks were bailed out.
When the motivated are truly the majority you might be able to clean house and start again. My suggestion is a Green party (Social Justice, Sustainability, Nonviolence and PARTICIPATORY Democracy).
BRAVO!!!!! on ALL points…
You touch on something I have long suspected….
” that President Obama’s power has been limited by the cabal that took charge of our country after JFK’s assassination and whose successors continue to wield power extra-legally.”
This could not be more obvious since Obama took office, and when he tried to close Gitmo… and other things….
There is just NO WAY he felt the way he did, talk that good of a game, then pulled the wool over our eyes…
There has GOT TO BE a reason that he did a 180 on what he campaigned on in 2008…. I TRULY suspect there are things we just do not know about, and are not privy to…. THO.. we should and should be….
The Thought of Romney becoming President does scare me…. it scares me a lot…. the secrecy that he is campaigning on… That is just beyond crazy…. and we know how Fringe RIGHT wing his party is….
Had they not had some rather frightening plans, they would have elected to run, a more moderate person… Instead, they got a man who really does flip flop, who stands for NOTHING…. shares NOTHING… and is EASILY LEAD by the powers that be….
There are some things that Obama has done that raise my eyebrows… and other things he promised that did not come about…. THO, That was more because he was blocked at EVERY TURN… and just smeared since day one….. the propaganda that comes from the right is not only scary, but just downright NASTY….. he not only has tried to fight to get the country back on track… he has had to endure something NO OTHER President in history has had to endure…. People questioning his actual Citizenship…
he has also had to face racism…. FAR MORE Threats to his life… the awakening of the Fringe Militia Racist Hate Groups….
then to ice the cake further… he is the one they are blaming for the economy…. How quick they forget…
It is funny how they blame him for the lack of jobs…. yet, any jobs bill the Democrats tried to pass, the right blocked them…. YET, they saw fit to put forth BILL after bill on abortion rights… and finding clever ways to limit a woman’s right to chose….
They blame him for all of the spending because of the stimulus… yet, 40% of that Stimulus was tax cuts that the Republicans insisted on for the stimulus to pass….
The Right wing not only want to continue the Culture war they have started…. and pass EVERY bit of Legislation they can while in power this time around….. they want to finish off the Trickle Down Economics that have failed this country, and remove MORE protections that keep the USA a civilized society….. Regulation… EPA….. it is all the Right wing ENEMY….
YES…. a Romney Presidency Scares the HELL out of me….
Bravo, Spindell! Please do not forget the “3 Warring Graces”: Hillary Clinton, Susan Grace, and Samantha Sunstein nee Power, and their influence on the foreign policy of our Republic (thanks to Pepe Escobar). As we note the 2000th American death in Afghanistan, always remember that when our current President took office in January 2009 less than 600 Americans had died in Afghanistan. According to the Department of Defense, since February 2009, over 1400 Americans have died. Pax Obama fell victim to the siren call of the 3 Warring Graces. Shame. Over and out.