Both of these papers turned out Earth-shattering. Where there had been global consensus, at least in word, that aggressive wars and unprovoked attacks were illegal and that conflicts should be resolved diplomatically, the Neocons said that might literally makes right, and invading and occupying countries were legitimate options if no one could stop you. The US Military budget rose from $287 billion in 2001 to $722 billion in 2011 (now about $1 trillion.) As former Vice-President Al Gore said, "We have replaced a world in which states consider themselves subject to law" with "the notion that there is no law but the discretion of the President of the United States".
Where international stability had been considered one of the highest goals in foreign affairs, championed even by war criminals like Henry Kissinger, the Neocons promoted chaos and destruction. Neocon Michael Ledeen called for "turning the Middle East into a cauldron". The Israeli and US governments have adopted these attitudes, and NATO countries have followed to varying degrees. International stability is a thing of the past. This was no small accomplishment. It took years of media manipulation, lies, false flags, and lobbying to do it, starting with the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
How to Start a War
Unlike 20th-century American wars, the invasion of Iraq did not masquerade as defense. There was no Tonkin Gulf Incident, no Lusitania sinking, no Pearl Harbor. Without such an excuse, gaining support for an unprovoked war on a country that posed no threat posed a formidable challenge. War advocates, led by the neocons, came at it from all sides.
The Bush administration came into power in 2001 fully determined to smash Saddam Hussein. With six PNAC members holding high administrative offices, they had still to win support of the rest of government. In 2001, both the CIA and the State Department opposed invading Iraq, as did much of the military, Congress and millions of American people. That resistance had to be overcome.
In Rebuilding America's Defenses, PNAC had written that, because of public resistance, their plans for expansion and military expression of US hegemony would take a long time "absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event -- like a new Pearl Harbor". On Sept. 11, 2001, they got (or created) their Pearl Harbor and swung into action. On September 19, 2001, PNAC sent an open letter to President Bush that called for pushing the war on terror "beyond al Qaeda to Syria, Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Palestine Authority and Iraq".
A steady drumbeat of Iraq WMD stories ran in Western media and were widely believed, though all turned out false. Neocons were the source of many of these stories. Donald Rumsfeld had set up the Office of Special Plans (OSP) in the Pentagon to create "intelligence" that better served war goals than the more accurate intelligence found by the CIA. OSP was a Neocon operation.
The string of WMD lies included 'Hussein purchasing aluminum tubes' that were said to be suitable for uranium-enrichment centrifuges. These claims were reported as true in a UK government dossier that was cited by President Bush. Much of the Brits' information came unedited and unsourced from the Middle East Review of International Affairs , a publication of Barry Rubin, an American-born Israeli neocon who regularly published very questionable intelligence as true.
Older readers might remember the rest of the nonstop campaign. Saddam discriminates against Kurds and Shi'a; Saddam is brutal and corrupt, Saddam is an abuser of women. Saddam is an ally of al-Qaeda and was responsible for 9/11. The Shi'a are rising; the people are fed up. American troops will be greeted as liberators. Nearly all these claims were lies or huge exaggerations, and the Neocons had a lot to do with creating and spreading them.
Eventually, CIA and State were overridden, Congress went along, and the millions marching against the invasion were ignored. The war went forward with the horrific results we have all seen. The Neocon/MIC alliance no longer faces much resistance from the intelligence agencies. Extreme neocon Mike Pompeo has been head of CIA and then Secretary of State, and the even more extreme John Bolton became President Trump's chief foreign policy advisor.
The corporate media present whatever pro-war forces say as facts. No matter how many times their predictions turn out absurdly wrong or their facts are exposed as lies, they keep being hired as commentators, experts, or pundits on corporate media platforms including NPR and PBS. This is true for retired Generals as well as pro-Israel intellectuals.
America and Israel combine forces
Their linked goals of American world dominance, Israeli regional dominance, and MIC profits are moving ahead. The US military and the IDF hold joint military maneuvers. Each new American administration deepens US connection with and support for Israel and its wars. The neocon playbook for regime change is being applied in Latin America as well, using some of the same operatives such as Elliot Abrams. We must somehow stop them. Maybe the current uprisings for Palestine will take us that way.
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