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Project for a New American Century, Statement of Principles, http://www.newamericancentury.org/statementofprinciples.htm 2 Project for a New American Century, Iraq Clinton Letter, http://www.newamericancentury.org/iraqclintonletter.htm 3 Secretary of Defense 4 Chairman of Defense Department’s Defense Policy Board, resigned 3/27/03. 5 Deputy Secretary of Defense 6 Special Assistant to the President, Senior Director for Near East and North African Affairs 7 Deputy Secretary of State 8 Under Secretary, Arms Control and International Security 9 Under Secretary, Global Affairs 10 Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs 11 Under Secretary of State for International Security Affairs 12 National Security Council Advisor, Special Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan 13 U.S. Trade Representative. 14 Inevitable escalation brings the inescapable `Why now?' USA Today; Arlington; Dec 17, 1998; Barbara Slavin;Richard Benedetto. 15 Colum Lynch, The Boston Globe, January 6, 1999, page 1. 16 Joint Vision 2020; https://www.doctrine.usmc.mil/jv2020.htm 17 Project for a New American Century, Rebuilding America’s Defenses http://www.newamericancentury.org/RebuildingAmericasDefenses.pdf 18 Marc W. Herold, “A Dossier on Civilian Victims of United States' Aerial Bombing of Afghanistan: A Comprehensive Accounting [revised]; http://www.cursor.org/stories/civilian_deaths.htm 19 William M. Arkin, Secret Plan Outlines the Unthinkable. Los Angeles Times, March 10, 2002. 29 Nuclear Threat Initiative, North Korea Nuclear Chronology 2002, http://www.nuclearthreatinitiative.org/db/profiles/dprk/nuc/chron/NKNCH02_GO.html 21 The "Unsigning" of the International Criminal Court Treaty, Statement by William F. Schulz, Executive Director, Amnesty International USA http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/2002/usa05062002.html 22 The National Security Strategy of The United States of America http://usinfo.state.gov/topical/pol/terror/secstrat.htm 23 Nicholas Kralev, Bush approves nuclear response, Washington Times, 31 January 2003. http://www.washtimes.com/world/20030131-27320419.htm 25 William M. Arkin, The Nuclear Option in Iraq: The U.S. Has Lowered the Bar For Using the Ultimate Weapon. Los Angeles Times, January 26, 2003. 26 Gary Jones And Alexandra Williams, “Real Authors of Iraq Dossier Blast Blair,” Daily Mirror, 8 Feb.03. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=12620001&method=full&siteid=50143 27 Seymour M. Hersh, “Who lied to whom? Why did the Administration endorse a forgery about Iraq’s nuclear program?”, The New Yorker, 31 March 2003. http://www.newyorker.com/printable/?fact/030331fafact1 28 Joby Warrick, “Some Evidence on Iraq Called Fake: U.N. Nuclear Inspector Says Documents on Purchases Were Forged,” Washington Post, 8 March 2003. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A59403-2003Mar7 29 Joby Warrick, “Some Evidence on Iraq Called Fake: U.N. Nuclear Inspector Says Documents on Purchases Were Forged,” Washington Post, 8 March 2003. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A59403-2003Mar7 30 Glenn Frankel, “Organizers of Antiwar Movement Plan to Go Beyond Protests” Washington Post, 3 March 2003. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wpdyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A308132003Mar2¬Found= 31 Richard Perle, “Thank God for the Death of the UN,” The Guardian, 21 March 2003. http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foreignaffairs/comment/0,11538,918811,00.html 32 Guy Dinmore, “Ideologues reshape world over breakfast,” Financial Times, 22 March 2003, pg. 1. 33 Charles Feldman and Stan Wilson, “Ex-CIA director: U.S. faces ‘World War IV’ ,” CNN.com 3 April 2003. http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/04/03/sprj.irq.woolsey.world.war/index.html 34 Dana Milbank, “White House Escalates Diplomatic Pressure on Syria,” Washington Post, 14 April 2003.http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22809-2003Apr14.html 35 CNN.Com, Gulf War Facts, http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/gulf.war/facts/gulfwar/ 36 Thom Shanker and Eric Schmitt, Pentagon Expects Long-Term Access to Four Key Bases in Iraq. New York Times, 20 April 2003
Timeline of Current American Foreign Policy
1997 June 3, 1997: The Project for the New American Century (PNAC), a neoconservative think tank is established with the goal of influencing American foreign policy1. ß The group is note worthy because its members include Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfed, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Jeb Bush, Elliot Abrams and others. 1998 January 26, 1998: The PNAC publishes a letter to President Clinton2. Specifically the letter: ß Urges Clinton to begin a war with Iraq and remove Saddam Hussein’s regime from power. ß Calls for the U.S. to go to war alone, stating that U.S. policy should not be “crippled by a misguided insistence on unanimity in the UN Security Council.” ß Labels Saddam Hussein as a “hazard” to the world’s oil supply. ß The letter is signed by Donald Rumsfeld,3 Richard Perle,4 Paul Wolfowitz,5 Elliott Abrams,6 Richard L. Armitage,7 John Bolton,8 Paula J. Dobriansky,9 Peter W. Rodman,10 William Schneider Jr.,11 R. James Woolsey, Zalmay Khalilzad,12 Robert B. Zoellick,13 and others. ß Nine of the 18 signatories later join the Bush Administration in 2001. December 16-19, 1998: Operation Desert Fox ß Weapon inspectors are evacuated by the UN as President Clinton begins bombing campaign of Iraq14. ß After the attack, Iraq does not let weapon inspectors back into country citing espionage by UNSCOM inspectors. The allegations of spying were later proven to be true15. 2000 May 30, 2000: Joint Vision 2020 is released and signed by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Henry Shelton. ß The report states: “The label ‘full spectrum dominance’ implies that US forces are able to conduct prompt, sustained and synchronized operations with combinations of forces tailored to specific situations, and with access to and freedom to operate in all domains space, sea, land, air and information.”16 September, 2000: The PNAC issues strategy report entitled “Rebuilding America’s Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources For a New Century.”17 ß The report was commissioned by Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and Lewis Libby. All currently hold positions in the Bush Administration. ß It builds upon a defense strategy outlined by Paul Wolfowitz in 1992 called the “Defense Planning Guidance” (DPG). The DPG called for preemptive attacks and said that the U.S. should be ready to act alone when "collective action cannot be orchestrated." ß The PNAC refers to the 1992 document as “a blueprint for maintaining global US preeminence.” ß The 2000 report advocates the use of force as an instrument of national policy — a practice that is explicitly rejected by the United Nations Charter. ß It identifies Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, North Korea, and China as adversaries. ß And states that “the need for a substantial American force” in the Gulf “transcends” the issue of “Saddam Hussein”.
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The report also advocates four “core missions” for the U.S. military: ß “defend the American homeland” ß “fight and decisively win multiple, simultaneous major theater wars” ß “perform the constabulary duties” in several critical world regions ß “transform U.S. forces” to take advantage of the “revolution in military affairs”
2003 January 26, 2003: Defense analyst William M. Arkin publishes the article, “The Nuclear Option in Iraq: The U.S. Has Lowered the Bar For Using the Ultimate Weapon.” The article asserts: ß The Bush administration has broken down the traditional firewall between nuclear and conventional weapons and positioned nuclear weapons as just another option in a continuum of military options. 25 February 5, 2003: Colin Powell presents the case for military action against Iraq to the UN Security Council. His presentation is later proven to rely heavily on false, plagiarized, and outdated evidence: ß The British "Iraq Dossier" that Powell used in his presentation is proven to contain passages plagiarized from articles written in 1997 by journalist Sean Boyne and from a graduate thesis by Ibrahim al-Marashi which relied on documents seized no later than “1991”.26 ß On March 7th, Mohammed El-Baradei, Chief Inspector for nuclear inspections, refutes Powell’s assertion that Iraq had attempted to purchase uranium from Niger. El-Baradei states that the documents supporting Powell's allegation are "not authentic."27 ß In addition, El-Baradei dismisses Powell's claims that Iraq attempted to purchase highstrength aluminum tubes for uranium enrichment purposes.28 ß El-Baradei further reported that advanced radiation detectors have found no evidence of banned weapons or nuclear material and that "There is no indication of resumed nuclear activities" in Iraq.29 February 15, 2003: 6-12 million people in over 75 countries protest the planned U.S. war on Iraq.30 March, 2003: It becomes clear that a second United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing force will be defeated. Russia, China, France, Germany and other nations oppose the resolution. France threatens to use its veto. March 16, 2003: Tony Blair, George Bush and Jose Maria Aznar announce a 24-hour deadline for a diplomatic solution to the Iraq crisis after their summit in the Azores. ß Majority of UN Security Council members advocate more inspections. March, 20, 2003: The United States officially initiates war against Iraq with a series of air strikes on Baghdad, without authorization from the United Nations Security Council. March 21, 2003: Richard Perle, an advisor to the Secretary of Defense publishes “Thank God for the Death of the UN” in the London newspaper The Guardian.31 March 21, 2002: Members of the American Enterprise Institute, another neo-conservative thinktank, meet to discuss the war in Iraq and outline a postwar agenda.32 According to the Financial Times, the agenda includes the following: ß “Radical reform of the UN” ß “Regime change in Iran and Syria” ß “Containment of France and Germany” ß Key people in attendance: Richard Perle, William Kristol, and Michael Ledeen. April 3, 2003: Former CIA director and PNAC member, James Woolsey, publicly states that the United States is engaged in a “World War” against three enemies: Iran, Syria and al Qaeda33. April 14, 2003: Members of the Bush administration escalate focus towards Syria, accusing it of harboring terrorists, producing chemical and biological weapons, and harboring Iraqi leaders.34 ß Syria was part of the U.S. led coalition fighting against Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War.35 April 20, 2003: The New York Times announces U.S. plans for military bases in Iraq. With bases in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Turkey; U.S. military forces nearly surround Iran geographically.36
2001 January, 2001: George W. Bush is sworn in as 43rd U.S. President. June-December, 2001. Policies of “international non-cooperation” begin to emerge, an idea advocated by the PNAC. These include the following: ß The Bush administration refuses to ratify the Kyoto Protocol; June, 2001. ß U.S. “walks out of” World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, September 3, 2001. ß The Bush administration formally announces its intention to withdraw from the Treaty on the Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems, commonly known as the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty; December, 13, 2001. September 11, 2001: Four U.S. planes, hijacked by terrorists, crash into the World Trade Center, The Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania killing more than 3,000 people. October, 2001: U.S. begins war with Afghanistan dismantling Taliban government by November. 18 ß Over 3,000 Afghani civilian deaths reported. 2002 January 8, 2002: The Bush administration delivers the classified Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) to Congress19. This document calls for: ß Targeting Russia, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, China, Libya, and Syria with nuclear weapons ß Preparing for the use of nuclear weapons in some future Arab-Israeli crisis ß Developing new nuclear weapons including earth-penetrating nuclear weapons (“bunkerbusters”) ß Developing “plans for using nuclear weapons to retaliate against chemical or biological attacks, as well as ‘surprising military developments’ of an unspecified nature.” January 29, 2002: George W. Bush delivers his State of the Union address in which he labels North Korea, Iran, and Iraq as an "Axis of Evil," along with their "terrorist allies." ß North Korea protests the speech, likening it to a “declaration of war”.20 May 6, 2002: The Bush administration continues a pattern of “international non-cooperation” by “unsigning” the United States from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.21 September, 2002: The Bush administration releases “The National Security Strategy of the United States of America,” emphasizing the doctrine of “preemption.”22 September 14, 2002: Bush signs the classified National Security Presidential Directive 17, which becomes official U.S. policy. The directive states the following: ß “The United States will continue to make clear that it reserves the right to respond with overwhelming force – including potentially nuclear weapons – to the use of [weapons of mass destruction] against the United States, our forces abroad, and friends and allies” ß Despite being official U.S. policy, the document remains classified for 3 more months until December 11, 2002.23 November, 2002: The Bush administration begins sending American troops to Kuwait in preparation for an attack on Iraq.
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