[Peace-discuss] creepier and creepy-er...bloody bill kristol et al find a new & willing zombie/wraith/disciple in Palin

[E. Wayne Johnson]

Neoconservatives plan Project Sarah Palin to shape future American 
foreign policy
/Neoconservatives whose influence had been waning in Washington have 
hitched their colours to rising star Sarah Palin in a bid to shape US 
foreign policy for another decade./
 
By Tim Shipman in Wasilla, Alaska
Last Updated: 12:30PM BST 13 Sep 2008

Comments by the governor of Alaska in her first television interview, in 
which she said Nato may have to go to war with Russia and took a tough 
line on Iran's nuclear programme, were the result of two weeks of 
briefings by neoconservatives.

Sources in the McCain camp, the Republican Party and Washington think 
tanks say Mrs Palin was identified as a potential future leader of the 
neoconservative cause in June 2007. That was when the annual summer 
cruise organised by the right-of-centre Weekly Standard magazine docked 
in Juneau, the Alaskan state capital, and the pundits on board took tea 
with Governor Palin.

Her case as John McCain's running mate was later advanced vociferously 
by William Kristol, the magazine's editor, who is widely seen as one of 
the founding fathers of American neoconservative thought - including the 
robust approach to foreign policy which spurred American intervention in 
Iraq.

In 1988, Mr Kristol became a leading adviser of another inexperienced 
Republican vice presidential pick, Dan Quayle, tutoring him in foreign 
affairs. Last week he praised Mrs Palin as "a spectre of a young, 
attractive, unapologetic conservatism" that "is haunting the liberal 
elites".

Now many believe that the "neocons", whose standard bearer in 
government, Vice President Dick Cheney, lost out in Washington power 
struggles to the more moderate defence secretary Robert Gates and 
secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, last year are seeking to mould Mrs 
Palin to renew their influence.

A former Republican White House official, who now works at the American 
Enterprise Institute, a bastion of Washington neoconservatism, admitted: 
"She's bright and she's a blank page. She's going places and it's worth 
going there with her."

Asked if he sees her as a "project", the former official said: "Your 
word, not mine, but I wouldn't disagree with the sentiment."

Pat Buchanan, the former Republican presidential candidate and a foreign 
policy isolationist, who opposes the war in Iraq, the project most 
closely associated with the neocons, said: "Palin has become, overnight, 
the most priceless political asset the movement has.

"Look for the neocons to move with all deliberate speed to take her into 
their camp by pressing upon her advisers and staff, and steering her 
into the AEI-Weekly Standard-War Party orbit." The AEI, or American 
Enterprise Institute, is a free-market think-tank with many neo-cons 
among its members.

In the two weeks since she was named as Mr McCain's running mate that is 
just what has happened. While Mr McCain was publicly distancing himself 
from the policies and personalities of the Bush administration, Mrs 
Palin was sequestered with a series of former aides to George W. Bush.

Mr McCain's chief foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, an 
influential neoconservative, wasted no time in briefing Mrs Palin. He 
quickly made Steve Biegun, a former number three on the National 
Security Council, her chief foreign policy adviser.

Steven Clemons, of the New American Foundation think tank in Washington, 
a chronicler of the ebb and flow of neocon power in the White House, 
bemoaned the appointment, saying Mr Biegun "will turn her into an 
advocate of Cheneyism and Cheney's view of national-security issues."

Eyebrows were also raised when, on the Tuesday after her selection, Mrs 
Palin was ushered into the company of AIPAC, the pro-Israeli lobby group 
in Washington.

In her first television interview, she was on message, agreeing with Mr 
McCain that Israel has the right to take military action against Iran if 
necessary. "I don't think that we should second-guess the measures that 
Israel has to take to defend themselves and for their security," she said.

Jacob Heilbrunn, author of They Knew They Were Right: The Rise of the 
Neocons, said the interview was "further evidence that she has soaked up 
the neocon view of the world." He was particularly alarmed by her 
suggestion that war with Russia is "perhaps" a possibility.

"The neocons surrounded Dan Quayle, with William Kristol becoming his 
main tutor. Now both McCain and Palin are being closely advised by 
neocons. Far from being chastened by the Iraq debacle, the neocons are 
now poised for their moment of greatest influence." Mr Buchanan has 
predicted Mrs Palin will become a major player for years to come.

"In choosing Palin, McCain may also have changed the course of history," 
he said. "Should this ticket win, Palin will eclipse every other 
Republican as heir apparent to the presidency and will have her own 
power base, wholly independent of President McCain."
 
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