What do you know about the Project for the New American Century? I'd bet that very few Americans know much about the PNAC though it seems likely that we should. Speaking for myself I know far too little though I intend to do a bit of research over the next few weeks. I'm sure the information is available with a little digging on the internets. I'll start with William Fisher, who has a guest editorial over at Informed Comment:


Having fixed Iraq, Richard Perle is now ready to advise us on Iran...



He said: "Before we face war, there are things we can do today. Tens of millions of people are unhappy with Iran's theocracy. We should be providing material support to the opposition... Broadcasting... helping young Iranians who want to publish... helping students, trade unions... (This could) bring about regime change by Iranians for Iranians... (and it) could well take out the Mullahs... We should spread the demand for good governance."



Perle seemed eager to assign blame for the Iraqi occupation, which he said is "sadly misguided." The US "should have turned over Iraq to the Iraqis immediately" following Saddam's overthrow. We "should have been working with Iraqis" to expedite a quick and bloodless regime change." He added, "Failed military actions often can lead to destructive occupations."



Excuse me, but isn't "working with" Iraqis how we found Ahmed Chalabi?



Perle believes the US "can't exclude the possibility of military action elsewhere in the Middle East," he said, adding, "The Middle East is producing the vast amount of terrorists in the world. " He focused specifically on Syria, which he said is funding and encouraging the insurgency in Iraq.

...



But regardless of how our Iraq adventure turns out, one has to feel a sense of profound loss: The Prince of Darkness has become the Prince of Peace. Gone is the man who gave us "If we just let our vision of the world go forth, and we embrace it entirely and we don't try to piece together clever diplomacy, but just wage a total war... our children will sing great songs about us years from now."



Or is he?



A few years ago, many of those who now serve George W Bush launched their "Project for the New American Century (PNAC)". Its stars included names like Elliott Abrams, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Donald Rumsfeld, James Woolsey, John Bolton, Douglas Feith and, of course, Perle. Its ideology was the proactive assertion of American power in the world. It believed that the kind of rhetoric we heard in the President's inaugural address was for real.



The PNAC said what America needed was "a new Pearl Harbor." A wake-up call to arms and manifest destiny. They wrote, they spoke, they circulated policy papers, they lobbied the corridors of Washington power. And absent 9/11, they might all just be doing the same old things. But Usama Bin Laden was the greatest gift the neocons ever got.



Then came Iraq.


I'm curious, did the PNAC ever actually say or write directly that America needed a new Pearl Harbor? It wouldn't surprise me though it disgusts me nonetheless.


Reading through the internets over the past few days, I'm reminded of how quickly people will accept the "truth" that they see broadcast by the corporate media. It's nothing new, but the non-critical acceptance of the corporate media's message by the majority of Americans is just idiotic. Are we that easy to emotionally manipulate? Are we really that eager to believe what we're told?


Yes. Yes we are.


Technorati Tags: , , , ,