[Peace-discuss] new pamphlet

[Alfred Kagan]

Here is the text of the new pamphlet that Susan 
and I put together.  I will bring some formatted 
copies to the meeting tomorrow.


"Next the statesmen will invent cheap lies, 
putting the blame upon the nation that is 
attacked, and every man will be glad of those 
conscience-soothing falsities, and will 
diligently study them, and refuse to examine any 
refutations of them; and thus he will by and by 
convince himself that the war is just, and will 
thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after 
this process of grotesque self-deception." 
Mark Twain, 1916

This pamphlet is an attempt to summarize American 
foreign policy during the Bush II Administration. 
It explains its ideological origin in the Project 
for the New American Century in the 1990s, the 
rationale as opposed to the reality of the 
Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, how US policy actually 
creates more terrorism, and the reality of racism 
at home and abroad. It discusses further "regime 
change" around the world and concludes with four 
major points.  We hope that it will help people 
understand how and why the current policies are 
so dangerous for the world and for our way of 
life.

Contrary to what we are told by newspapers and 
television, US foreign-policy goals are not the 
extension of democracy and freedom, but global 
political and economic domination. For more than 
a century, our government and military maintained 
an empire, using force to insure profits and 
power for US corporations and their transnational 
partners. A key goal is to keep the world's oil, 
gas, and other natural resources accessible to US 
interests.  Since the fall of the Soviet Union 
and the end of the Cold War, the world's only 
military superpower has alternately negotiated 
with and manipulated the wealthier European 
countries, Japan, and China to this same end.
Historically, attempts by poorer countries to 
control their own economic and political 
destinies have been met with US subversion, 
including what we now call "regime change." For 
example, the US seized Cuba and the Philippines 
in 1898, invaded Central American countries 
dozens of times in the 20th century, and helped 
overthrow the governments of Iran and Guatemala 
in 1953, and Chile in 1973. In pursuit of 
economic dominance, the United States has 
established hundreds of military bases around the 
globe. Today, as the world has become more 
petroleum dependent, the Middle East and Central 
Asia are the focus of empire building.

Project for the New American Century.
The US long drive for global power has shifted 
into high gear since the end of the Cold War. 
Policy radicals have advocated "preemptive war" 
to maintain US preeminence. In the late 1990s, a 
small group who have now become powerful in the 
Bush Administration, including Dick Cheney, 
Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Elliot Abrams, 
and George Bush's brother, Jeb, founded the 
Project for the New American Century.  They 
called on the US to discourage advanced 
industrial nations from challenging our 
leadership or "Ševen aspiring to a larger 
regional or global role." According to the 
Project's website, shaping a century favorable to 
American interest requires a military build-up 
and "a foreign policy that boldly and 
purposefully promotes American principles 
abroad." In other words, the US must be more 
aggressive abroad and less respectful of  the 
interests of other nations. The Project argued 
that "American policy cannot continue to be 
crippled by misguided insistence on unanimity in 
the UN Security Council" 
(http://www.newamericancentury.org/index.html).

As a first step, the Project forecast the need to 
overthrow the regime of former US ally, and CIA 
asset, Saddam Hussein and occupy Iraq. They hoped 
to assure access to "a significant portion of the 
world's oil supply."

September 11th and the Afghan War.
Cabinet members Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitz 
got their way immediately following the terrorist 
attack of September 11, 2001. As we know from 
insiders like Richard Clarke, they began 
planning for a war on Iraq on Sept. 12th. 
Meanwhile,  George Bush ordered the bombing of 
Afghanistan, with the stated purposes of killing 
Osama bin Laden, annihilating the Taliban, and 
establishing democracy. None of these missions 
have been accomplished. Warlords in place before 
the Taliban government are back in power.  The 
opium trade, nearly eliminated under the Taliban, 
is flourishing, and the position of women has 
changed little outside the capital, Kabul. As far 
as we know, bin Laden is still alive. The 
so-called "war on terrorism" has been used to 
frighten people into support for preemptive wars 
rather than actually address the basis of the 
very real threats. (Richard Clarke, Against All 
Enemies, 2004).

But the Bush administration did accomplish its 
real goals: control of an economically critical 
region, a route for a new oil pipeline, and US 
military bases in Afghanistan.  New US military 
installations in Pakistan, Uzbekistan, 
Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan 
and Georgia, encircle the Caspian Sea oil 
reserves and pose a direct challenge to Russian 
and Chinese interests in the region.

War Against Iraq.
The most important test case of preemptive war to 
secure United States interests has been the war 
on Iraq.  It was justified by bold claims that 
Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction 
and Iraq had close ties to the al Qaeda network. 
Senate reports have now shown these arguments for 
war to be false.  Searching for a rationale, the 
Bush Administration argued that overthrowing 
Saddam would bring American-style democracy to 
the people of Iraq, foster peace and democracy in 
the entire Middle East, and help to solve the 
Israel/Palestine conflict.

In fact, regime change in Iraq was designed to 
create a long-term US military and economic 
presence. Four new bases and a gigantic "embassy" 
in Baghdad add to an overwhelming military 
capacity  in the region. The US already has bases 
in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, United Arab 
Emirates, Turkey, Egypt, Israel and Djibouti, as 
well as in the Central Asian countries mentioned 
above. (Chalmers Johnson, Sorrows of Empire, page 
242).

Racism and the Creation of Terrorism.
US imperial strategy in Iraq is creating enormous 
rage and unrest across the Middle East. The 
"hand-over of power" on June 28, 2004, has not 
created democracy, but stringent martial law and 
the restriction of civil liberties.  The transfer 
of power itself is a fig leaf for continued US 
occupation.  US troops are risking their lives to 
protect the construction and petroleum 
concessions of American corporations, signed into 
Iraqi law in early 2004.

The war has given rise to upheaval that Middle 
Eastern leaders are finding difficult to control. 
It is likely that the United States' war on Iraq 
has created more terrorists, as we hear daily of 
strikes against American military and corporate 
targets throughout the region. One of the most 
disastrous results has been the intensification 
of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, in part 
because it gave Israel license to build its 
Separation Wall, and in effect annex more 
territory. Middle Eastern people see a double 
standard between the treatment of Muslim and 
Christian Arabs, and Western people.  At home, 
minorities and poor people are disproportionately 
hurt by the war. African Americans and Latinos 
are over-represented in the military and they 
suffer most when money is diverted from domestic 
spending to the ballooning costs of the war.

More Regime Change.
US support for the spring 2004 coup in Haiti is 
another example of regime change.  Overthrow of 
the democratically-elected government of 
Jean-Bertrand Aristide explodes the argument that 
the United States fosters the self-determination 
of people who practice electoral democracy. 
Although Haiti is the poorest country in the 
hemisphere, its independent policies were still 
seen as a threat to United States interests.  It 
would be naive to assume that this aggressive 
policy will stop with Afghanistan, Iraq and 
Haiti, especially when George Bush regularly 
threatens Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, Syria and North 
Korea, all countries that dare to resist US 
control of their destinies.

Conclusion: Continuous War?
The Bush Adminstration's Plan for the New 
American Century is a radical departure from the 
past.  With the Soviet Union gone, the United 
States has moved to remake the world for its own 
purposes.  We conclude with four points: first, 
it is impossible that the United States and its 
aggressive new posture will not meet resistance 
from new economic superpowers like China and the 
European Union. Thus, America's policy may cause 
more intense conflicts in the future.  Second, it 
is unlikely that the aggrieved and suffering 
peoples of the Middle East will accept United 
States direction of their futures. Third, the 
American "war on terror" is a pretext for 
preemptive war to extend empire.  Finally, there 
cannot be a war on terror without "blowback," 
unpredictable reactions to aggression. Further 
attacks within the US are likely unless the 
people force their government to change its 
policies and actions.  A positive first step 
would be immediate withdrawal of all troops from 
Iraq.





"We must make clear to the German that the wrong 
for which their fallen leaders are on trial is 
not that they lost the war, but that they started 
it. And we must not allow ourselves to be drawn 
into a trail of the causes of the war, for our 
position is that no grievances or policies will 
justify resort to aggressive war. It is utterly 
renounced and condemned as an instrument of 
policy."
Robert L. Jackson, Chief U.S. Prosecutor, Nuremberg Tribunals, 1945

AWARE
Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort
----------------------------

American Foreign Policy: Spreading Democracy or Imposing Empire?

------------------------------------
You are invited.  We meet every Sunday, 5 to 7 
p.m. at the Independent Media Center, 218 W. Main 
St., downtown Urbana, 217-384-0299, aware at grex.org
http://www.anti-war.net

-- 


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu
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