A plethora of comments cheerleading the Iraqi elections compels me to remind folks of what Bush's foreign policy agenda is really about. This is not about WMDs; this is not about a self-determined Iraqi populace; this is not about spreading true freedom as most of us would conceive of it. The current foreign policy is about this:
We aim to make the case and rally support for American global leadership.
As the 20th century draws to a close, the United States stands as the world's preeminent power. Having led the West to victory in the Cold War, America faces an opportunity and a challenge: Does the United States have the vision to build upon the achievements of past decades? Does the United States have the resolve to shape a new century favorable to American principles and interests?
Do you have the "resolve" to risk your life and those of others in order to engage this Pinky and the Brain fantastical nonsense? Or do you envision are more moral, cooperative model of world comity?
Is this what the American people thought they had subscribed to when Bush terrified us with visions of Iraqi nuclear weaponry to justify the war on Iraq?
(PNAC's Statement of Principles continued)
We are in danger of squandering the opportunity and failing the challenge. We are living off the capital -- both the military investments and the foreign policy achievements -- built up by past administrations. Cuts in foreign affairs and defense spending, inattention to the tools of statecraft, and inconstant leadership are making it increasingly difficult to sustain American influence around the world. And the promise of short-term commercial benefits threatens to override strategic considerations. As a consequence, we are jeopardizing the nation's ability to meet present threats and to deal with potentially greater challenges that lie ahead.
We seem to have forgotten the essential elements of the Reagan Administration's success: a military that is strong and ready to meet both present and future challenges; a foreign policy that boldly and purposefully promotes American principles abroad; and national leadership that accepts the United States' global responsibilities.
This is part of a statement of principles from the Project for a New American Century.
Project for a New American Century Signatories:
- Elliott Abrams
- Gary Bauer
- William J. Bennett
- Jeb Bush
- Dick Cheney
- Eliot A. Cohen
- Midge Decter
- Paula Dobriansky
- Steve Forbes
- Aaron Friedberg
- Francis Fukuyama
- Frank Gaffney
- Fred C. Ikle
- Donald Kagan
- Zalmay Khalilzad
- I. Lewis Libby
- Norman Podhoretz
- Dan Quayle
- Peter W. Rodman
- Stephen P. Rosen
- Henry S. Rowen
- Donald Rumsfeld
- Vin Weber
- George Weigel
- Paul Wolfowitz
Note: I'm sure you'll recognize some of these weird characters who heartily subscribed to the neocon world "vision."
*****
Let's not forget ourselves, folks, as we want to cheerfully jump on the bandwagon of hoping that the Bush administration has suddenly turned altruistic with the Iraqi elections. The only way to prevent another neocon Pinky and the Brain Iraqi excursion is to understand that the reasons that we are in Iraq have nothing to do with an actualized self-determined Iraqi populace and everything to do with massaging the world landscape to accept American dominance. Now, excuse me as I find I must shower after visiting PNAC's creepy-assed website to get this info for you...