11. Richard Armitage, Deputy Secretary of State
12. Paula Dobriansky, Undersecretary of State
13. John Bolton, Undersecretary of State
14. ZalmayKhalilzad, President's Special Envoy
15. Elliott Abrams, National Security Council
16. Robert Zoellick, U.S. Trade Representative
The PNAC's document, Rebuilding America's Defenses, would have the desired effect: it was codified formally as The National Security Strategy of the United States of America: global dominion, by pre-emptive war if necessary, became the written policy of the nation. [vi]
On January 30, 2001, President Bush convened his National Security Council for an hour-long meeting. It was a triumph for the Project for the New American Century--and certainly for Cheney, Wolfowitz, Libby, and Khalilzad.
The long-standing priority for the Middle East--reconciling the conflict between Israel and Palestine--was abandoned. The overthrow of Saddam Hussein was moved to the top of the foreign policy agenda instead. [vii]
Within ten days of taking office the Bush Administration was committed to the invasion of Iraq.
It would be undertaken not only in pursuit of ideology. There was a conspicuous strategic reason as well: "..access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil," in the words of the seminal document in 1992, the Draft Defense Planning Guidance.
President Bush and Vice President Cheney had close ties to the U.S. oil companies, and so did National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice. So did eight cabinet secretaries and 32 other Bush appointees in the Departments of Defense, State, Agriculture, Energy, Interior, and the Office of Management and Budget. [viii]
The commercial interests of the oil companies were no less effectively represented in the Bush Administration than the anachronistic ideology of the PNAC, and the companies would be served equally as well.
In January President Bush appointed Vice President Cheney to chair a National Energy Policy Development Group.
The "Energy Task Force" as it came to be known was staffed by relevant federal officials and energy industry executives and lobbyists. It operated in extreme secrecy. Its full membership was never revealed, but some corporate members were leaked: Enron, Exxon-Mobil, Shell, Conoco-Phillips, and BP America.
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