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
Praise the Lard and pass the ammunition.
Can’t spell. It is falllingpetals@hushmail.com.
Three l’s. FA L L L INGPETALS.
Please try again.
Gurl,
I have handled this like a 12 year old from the beginning. Sorry for that.
Let me check and will get back to you. Will simply email myself and see if it works.
Assange should more accurately be compared to the NYTimes and similar media, not Ellsburg. Ellsburg lifted from the DoD. Someone else did the lifting deed and delivered to Wikileaks/Assange.
And I don’t see how Bradley Manning could have lifted all those cables. The slaughter of the civilians video may have been Manning but I don’t believe he took the cables. Someone else did that.
Obama has had a zero tolerance policy for all whistle blowers. The whistle blowers get prison, sometimes on trumped up charges, or their lives otherwise ruined while those who do the corrupt stuff just go on without punishment.
Hi Ideal…
I just tried to email you, it did not work out so well…. unless the mail is in some code…. 😀
Gurl,
Sorry, my bad…..
You can email me at fallingpetals@hushmail.com.
Sweden is not a judicial paradise. Far from it. So many corrupt things happen here. And not laughable.
If you are political problem, then it is politics that count. In Assange’s case Sweden’s position under the USA foot.
Been that way since WW2. Sweden needed and needs USA protection from USSR/Russia. Simple.
And delivery of Swedish nationals has been done before, although 2 were also Egyptian citizens.
Delivery of Assange would be easily done. Australia has already taken their hand from him. Poor man. Poor us.
Darkness descends again. Who will provide NYTimes any real news until a new Ellsberg gets the courage.
At this point in time the outlook is very black indeed.
Richard Faust: “How about Assange? … allow Assange to go to Sweden. At that point, allow due process to occur.”
__________
It’s not about Sweden and rape, it’s about extradition to the U.S. and a sealed indictment for espionage. The Ecuadorians now have two people in their embassy of interest, one that the British want to get their hands on (Andrea Davidson, a nom de guerre or nom de plume) and one the U.S. wants (Assange):
http://beforeitsnews.com/beyond-science/2012/08/andrea-davison-modern-day-mata-hari-2439256.html
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2012/08/01/uk-intel-andrea-davidson-dr-david-kelly-julian-assange-and-other-key-stories/
Gurl,
We could just say Monday at 12PM at Medborgarplatsen sitting near the Greek food kiosk. Coffee at one of the open air places there.
Look for a long drink of water with big black sunglasses.
Gurl and other Sweden interested folks,
An example of Swedish problem solving.
!0 years ago and for some summers in a row, the last weekend before school re-commencing was marked by youth riots, big black market ecstasy parties, drunkenness, etc.
So the authorities have now for some years now sponsored music events all over during the whole of the weekend.
The kids are happy and have places to go and have fun.
And no nannies or signs anywhere. Tough music groups. The kids can not be fooled here.
yes… It is late..
But this next week would be perfect…. I don’t work…
So, during the week, I am pretty open….
Dark Side of the moon is my favorite as well…
I’ve seen them in concert 3 times…. and ALWAYS AMAZING….
I know exactly where you live….
I live in Bondegatan…. Right behind the Sofia Church….
as for Swedish Culture…. I have yet to catch that bug…. 🙂
Gurl,
I live at Ringvägen near Götgatan.
At this hour is kinda late. So another time is fine.
Glad you came. I need to know some amiable Americans here. Feels like the time is ripe. I was deeply immersed in Swedish culture before.
Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon is one of my favorites. Have several of their albums.
You’re in a good age, in case I may say so, looking back as I can.
Nick, welcome to our world.
ID and Gurl, May I be stale and say, “Small World?”
It is indeed…
WOW!!! that is something else….
we are only about a mile apart…..
This is the last thing I had expected… 🙂
and a pleasant surprise, it is…..
PS… I can hear the music…. it is EVERYWHERE here on Söder….
I was wondering what all the noise and racket was outside…
It is not the typical Drunk Swede sounds outside tonight….
also, my daughter is practicing guitar in the other room…
she is learning a Pink Floyd song for me…
Gurl,
“here I see people eat fruit, veggies…
Tho, A LOT OF THAI food….
are you really in Sweden???
if so, that would be rather coincidental…..
Do you come from the USA????
Or, are you a native Swede????”
Yeah, am American still. Raised in NC and never lived there since ’59. Was outside USA 2 years before coming here in ’68.
Well, the chances of another American living in Stockholm popping up at this blog is not likely.
Must be something serendipitous. I like to believe in serendipity.
Can you hear the music coming from the youth events around town. Here on Ringvägen the park behind is full of kids and the light metal is boomin’.
The pre-thirty guys and the post-thirty girls with “tires” around their bellies worry me.
Will write a bit about US food stats some other time.
Now we are here at MikeS thread, in mourning for the imminent death of America, and the middle and poor classes. That saddens me also, as it does you.
Gurl,
I, in my 44 years here, have not associated with Americans routinely. But due to your postings here would be delighted to have a coffee someplace on Södermalm, or…..?
I am 75 and not an eligible choice in that regard.
But spry for my age. Some say I look 60. And that’s a compliment??? 😉
At any rate please satisfy my curiousity. How long have you been here?
Hi Idealist…
That would be a WONDERFUL date…
I must admit, I too, do not associate with Americans often…
sounds like you moved here, when I was BORN….
OK… I lied about my age there… I was actually 1 ok… maybe, almost 2….
and NO.. nobody tells me I look 60…. 🙂
also, It looks like I am in luck… Södermalm could NOT be more
perfect…. as, that is where I reside….
I moved here back in 2007…
Been here 5 years now….
From article by M. Spindell: “Today the steady drumbeat to attack Iran…”
Actually we (and the Israelis) are at war with Iran by the Pentagon’s own definition and have been for quite some time. We have already attacked them. Weather more conventional methods will be used by the US and/or Israel is a looming question. Maybe the only question is “When?”.
TECHNOLOGY May 30, 2011, 10:30 p.m.
“Cyber Combat: Act of War
Pentagon Sets Stage for U.S. to Respond to Computer Sabotage With Military Force”
“WASHINGTON—The Pentagon has concluded that computer sabotage coming from another country can constitute an act of war, a finding that for the first time opens the door for the U.S. to respond using traditional military force”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304563104576355623135782718.html
“Obama Order Sped Up Wave of Cyberattacks Against Iran By DAVID E. SANGER
Published: June 1, 2012
WASHINGTON — From his first months in office, President Obama secretly ordered increasingly sophisticated attacks on the computer systems that run Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities, significantly expanding America’s first sustained use of cyberweapons, according to participants in the program.” ….
“Previous cyberattacks had effects limited to other computers,” Michael V. Hayden, the former chief of the C.I.A., said, declining to describe what he knew of these attacks when he was in office. “This is the first attack of a major nature in which a cyberattack was used to effect physical destruction,” rather than just slow another computer, or hack into it to steal data.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/world/middleeast/obama-ordered-wave-of-cyberattacks-against-iran.html?_r=2&pagewanted=2&seid=auto&smid=tw-nytimespolitics&pagewanted=all
From Wikipedia:
“Stuxnet is a highly sophisticated, US-Israeli[1] computer worm. Discovered in June 2010, Stuxnet initially spreads via Microsoft Windows, and targets Siemens industrial software and equipment. While it is not the first time that hackers have targeted industrial systems,[2] it is the first discovered malware that spies on and subverts industrial systems,[3] and the first to include a programmable logic controller (PLC) rootkit.”
Junk FOOD????
OK… REALLY????
This is the one thing I have found to be quite strange here….
I don’t see people on the street, like in the USA eating bags of crisps….
here I see people eat fruit, veggies…
Tho, A LOT OF THAI food….
are you really in Sweden???
if so, that would be rather coincidental…..
Do you come from the USA????
Or, are you a native Swede????
How about Assange? My ancestors fled the Norwegian colony of Sweden in the 1850s and settled in the black dirt of south central Minnesota. It is very simple my Scandinavian brothers/sisters” allow Assange to go to Sweden. At that point, allow due process to occur. If not, Sweden, besides their hockey expertise, continues to harbor Nazi gold, etc. etc. . .
bettykath,
“gee, this all sounds pretty cynical. guess i’ve been paying too much attention.”
I’d say you were very optimistic. After the RTAA, what will he do next in the persecution and control gambit?
“gee, this all sounds pretty cynical. guess i’ve been paying too much attention.”
Bettykath,
I share your cynicism.
Gurl,
Right on and welcome aboard.
Dave S.,
The only thing halfway decent about libertarian thought is for the most part a belief in the rights of people. However, Ron Paul is a libertarian who believes in taking away a women’s rights to her own body, theocracy and has allowed bigots to write under his masthead. As for the Austrian School, that is merely a bunch of crackpots engaging in wishful thinking with a hagiography of an economic system that has ever existed and never will.