Project for the New American Century

Project for the New American Century

Project for the New American Century (PNAC), a conservative think-tank, was established in 1997 as a nonprofit, educational organization whose goal is to promote "American Global Leadership."
In September 2000, PNAC produced a document, "Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategies, Forces and Resources for a New Century." It was kept secret, until a reporter from the the (Irish) Sunday Herald wrote about it on September 15, 2002. The intention of this document was to present the new administration with "a useful road map for the nation's immediate and future defense plans." It encourages the creation of a "global Pax Americana," and was drawn up for vice-president Dick Cheney.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, and Lewis Libby (Cheney's chief-of-staff) were contributors to the report. These men form a tight-knit group whose interests transcend administrations. They began the project in the spring of 1998 to "examine the country's defense plans and resource requirements," building upon "the defense strategy outlined by the Cheney Defense Department, in the waning days of the [former] Bush Administration."
In 1992, Cheney drafted a Defense Policy Guidance (DPG) document which proposed maintaining US preeminence, preventing the rise of a great power rival, and shaping the international security order in line with American principles and interests. That document was leaked before it could be approved. Opponents criticized it as an effort by "cold warriors" to keep defense spending high and cuts in forces small despite the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Clinton administration buried Cheney's DPG document, seeking a "peace dividend" instead.
The PNAC document says that the "American grand strategy must be advanced as far into the future as possible." It calls for the US to "fight and decisively win multiple, simultaneous major theater wars." It describes American armed forces abroad as "the cavalry on the new American frontier," and states that the US must "discourage advanced industrial nations from challenging our leadership or even aspiring to a larger regional or global role."
The report states there is a need for more American forces for "constabulary" duties. It suggests that using our forces to maintain peace after missions was "running an unacceptable risk in event of war elsewhere and facing the realities of multiple constabulary missions will require a permanent allocation of US armed forces."
According to the report, "The increasing number of constabulary missions for US troops must be considered an integral element in Pentagon force planning," and they expect these operations will remain high over the next 15 to 20 years. "Further, these constabulary missions are far more complex and likely to generate violence than traditional 'peacekeeping' missions. For one, they demand American political leadership rather than that of the United Nations." The US "cannot assume a UN-like stance of neutrality; the preponderance of American power is so great and its global interests so wide that it cannot pretend to be indifferent to political outcomes."
The document states that should "Saddam pass from the scene" bases in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait will remain permanently, despite the opposition of other Gulf regimes to the stationing of US troops. It says, "Iran may well prove as large a threat to US interests as Iraq has." It suggests that it's time to increase the presence of American forces in Southeast Asia which, it says, may lead to "American and allied power providing the spur to the process of democratization in China."
The report calls for the creation of "US Space Forces" to dominate space: "Space control is not an avoidable issue, it is not an optional extra." US space command "must have the ability to assure access to space, freedom of operations within the space medium and an ability to deny others the use of space; this must be an essential element of our military strategy."
The report calls for total control of cyberspace to prevent "enemies" from using the Internet against the US. It says, "New methods of attack, electronic, non-lethal, biological, will be more widely available and combat likely will take place in new dimensions, in space, cyberspace, and perhaps the world of microbes." It identifies North Korea, Libya, Syria and Iran as dangerous regimes and says their existence justifies the creation of a "world-wide command-and-control system."
The PNAC wants America, as the world's sole superpower, to take advantage of its position. The document states, "America's strategic goal used to be containment of the Soviet Union; today the task is to preserve an international security environment conducive to American interests and ideals." The military's job has changed since the Cold War, the document says: "Today its task is to secure and expand the zones of democratic peace; to deter the rise of a new greatpower competitor; defend key regions of Europe, East Asia and the Middle East; and to preserve American preeminence through the coming transformation of war made possible by new technologies."
These goals, of course, greatly increase the need for more defense spending. "Use of the post Cold War 'peace dividend' to balance the federal budget has created a 'defense deficit' totaling tens of billions of dollars annually." The authors go on to state, "The program we advocateÑone that would provide America with forces to meet the strategic demands of the world's sole superpowerÑrequires budget levels to be increased to 3.5 to 3.8 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. A sensible plan would add $15 billion to $20 billion to total defense spending annually."
The effects will have profound implications for how wars are fought, what weapons dominate and which nations enjoy military preeminence. To preserve American military preeminence, "the Department of Defense must move more aggressively to experiment with new technologies and operational concepts, and seek to exploit the emerging revolution in military affairs. The process of transformation is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing eventÑlike a new Pearl Harbor."
This blueprint for US global domination reveals that Bush, or at least his vice president and cabinet members, were planning an attack on Iraq to secure "regime change" even before they took power in January 2001. The plan shows Bush's cabinet intended to take military control of the Gulf region whether or not Saddam Hussein was in power. It says: "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."
It seems the Bush administration has taken the PNAC document and made it their political and defense strategy. September 11th provided the "catastrophic and catalyzing event" that was needed to propel America into the "War on Terrorism," a war without end that justifies massive increases in military spending, and decreased domestic spending. It is the excuse they need to "expand the zones of democratic peace."
Paula J. Dobriansky, Undersecretary of State for Global Affairs, wrote in defense of the invasion of Iraq, "Pan-national terrorist groups (such as al Qaeda) and rogue regimes (such as that of the Taliban or of Saddam Hussein) pose grave threats to democratic systems, as do the xenophobic, intolerant ideologies that they espouse. Accordingly, fighting against these forces is both in our national security interest and a key ingredient of democracy promotion. And democracy promotion is the best antidote to terrorism."
The new American in-your-face foreign policy has destabilized the political world, taking problems and turning them into crises. In lockstep force toward world domination, we find ourselves threatening Syria and Iran, and would probably invade them also, except that North Korea has its own stubborn, in-your-face cowboy leader. It's quickly becoming the next war zone, and provides an enemy who will fight back. To stop this juggernaut of imperialism, we must work to end the Bush "Regime of Terror" by the 2004 election.