More on 'Project For The New American Centrury' - click here and here
PNAC's own home page - click here
'PNAC Revealed' - click here
PNAC signatories - click here

"This [Cheney-Rumsfeld-Wolfowitz PNAC] story has all the makings of a conspiracy theory, except that it's true and real and happening right now."
ABC News' Ted Koppel on Cheney-Rumsfeld-Wolfowitz involvement in 'Project For A New American Centrury'
The President's Men
ABC News, 5 March 2003

"A secret [PNAC] blueprint for US global domination reveals that President Bush and his cabinet were planning a premeditated attack on Iraq to secure 'regime change' even before he took power in January 2001. The blueprint, uncovered by the Sunday Herald, for the creation of a 'global Pax Americana' was drawn up for Dick Cheney (now vice- president), Donald Rumsfeld (defence secretary), Paul Wolfowitz (Rumsfeld's deputy), George W Bush's younger brother Jeb and Lewis Libby (Cheney's chief of staff).....The plan shows Bush's cabinet intended to take military control of the Gulf region whether or not Saddam Hussein was in power. It says: 'The United States has for decades sought to play a more permanent role in Gulf regional security. While the unresolved conflict with Iraq provides the immediate justification, the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein."
Bush planned Iraq 'regime change' before becoming President
Sunday Herald, 15 Sept 2002

"Tonight ABC News correspondent Jackie Judd will explore this conspiracy theory, and the influence and role of the Project for the New American Century. The Project for the New American Century.  Never heard of it?  Well, don't feel bad.  Few have.  But have you heard of Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld or Paul Wolfowitz?  Back in 1997, those three out-of-office politicians and several other like-minded, mostly conservatives, were frustrated with American foreign policy.  So they formed this new organization... Today, a 76-page paper written by the organization reads like a blueprint for the policy being carried out largely by Vice President Dick Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz. Is this a case of democracy in action?  Influential thinkers who became policy makers?  Or is it, as some international critics of the White House's policy on Iraq have argued, a secretive organization pulling the strings of the President, with an imperialistic goal of dominating the world?  Are these criticisms legitimate? Tonight ABC News correspondent Jackie Judd will explore this conspiracy theory, and the influence and role of the Project for the New American Century."
Trailer for 'The President's Men'
ABC News, 5 March 2003

"It has been called a secret blueprint for US global domination. A small group of people with a plan to remove Saddam Hussein, long before George W. Bush was elected president. And 9/11 provided the opportunity to set it in motion.....Take away the somewhat hyperbolic references to conspiracy, however, and you're left with a story that has the additional advantage of being true. Back in 1997, a group of Washington heavyweights, almost all of them neo-conservatives, formed an organization called the Project for the New American Century [PNAC].....They were pushing for the elimination of Saddam Hussein. And proposing the establishment of a strong US military presence in the Persian Gulf, linked to a willingness to use force to protect vital American interests in the Gulf. All of that might be of purely academic interest were it not for the fact that among the men behind that campaign were such names as, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Paul Wolfowitz. What was, back in 1997, merely a theory, is now, in 2003, US policy."
ABC News' Ted Koppel on Cheney-Rumsfeld-Wolfowitz involvement in 'Project For A New American Centrury'
The President's Men
ABC News, 5 March 2003

More on this ABC News Report - click here and here

ABC News - All the President's Men - click here

"After 9/11, [this Cheney-Rumsfeld-Wolfowitz led group] was able to benefit from the gigantic eruption of political capital, combined with the supply of military preponderance in the hands of the President. And this small group, therefore, was able to gain direct contact and even control, now, of the White House."
Professor Ian Lustick of the University of Pennsylvania
ABC News Nightline, 5 March 2003

"I was sitting on the floor of an old concrete house in the suburbs of Amman this week. Every man in the room believed President Bush wanted Iraqi oil. Indeed, every Arab I've met in the past six months believes that this – and this alone – explains his enthusiasm for invading Iraq. Many Israelis think the same. So do I... Along with the concern for 'vital interests' in the Gulf, this war was concocted five years ago by oil men such as Dick Cheney... Back in 1997, in the years of the Clinton administration, Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and a bunch of other right-wing men – most involved in the oil business – created the Project for the New American Century [PNAC], a lobby group demanding 'regime change' in Iraq. In a 1998 letter to President Clinton, they called for the removal of Saddam from power. In a letter to Newt Gingrich, who was then Speaker of the House, they wrote that 'we should establish and maintain a strong US military presence in the region, and be prepared to use that force to protect our vital interests [sic] in the Gulf – and, if necessary, to help remove Saddam from power'. The signatories of one or both letters included Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, now Rumsfeld's Pentagon deputy, John Bolton, now under-secretary of state for arms control, and Richard Armitage, Colin Powell's under-secretary at the State Department.... They also included Richard Perle, a former assistant secretary of defence, currently chairman of the defence science board, and Zalmay Khalilzad, the former Unocal Corporation oil industry consultant who became US special envoy to Afghanistan – where Unocal tried to cut a deal with the Taliban for a gas pipeline across Afghan territory – and who now, miracle of miracles, has been appointed a special Bush official for – you guessed it – Iraq."
This looming war isn't about chemical warheads or human rights: it's about oil
Independent, 18 January 2003

Who is Richard Perle? and Who is Richard Armitage?

"On the morning of 12 September 2001, without any evidence of who the hijackers were, Rumsfeld demanded that the US attack Iraq. According to Woodward, Rumsfeld told a cabinet meeting that Iraq should be 'a principal target of the first round in the war against terrorism'. Iraq was temporarily spared only because Colin Powell, the secretary of state, persuaded Bush that 'public opinion has to be prepared before a move against Iraq is possible'..."
Why Bush lies about Iraq
John Pilger, ITV.com, 12 Dec 2002

Stopping the PNAC expansion of the American Empire is the main reason why the Bush Admininsration doesn't like other countries having weapons of mass destruction - PNAC admits the US and its allies have become a bigger threat to other nations than the former Soviet Union - it knows that these countries want WMDs in order to protect themselves against US military aggression

 "Iran, Iraq and North Korea are rushing to develop ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons as a deterrent to American intervention.... the United States also must counteract the effects of the proliferation of ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction that may soon allow lesser states to deter U.S. military action... In the post-Cold War era, America and its allies, rather than the Soviet Union, have become the primary objects of deterrence... and it is states like Iraq, Iran and North Korea who most wish to develop deterrent capabilities."
Rebuilding America's Defenses
PNAC, September 2000

"...it hardly needs to be added that if Saddam does acquire the capability to deliver weapons of mass destruction ... a significant portion of the world's supply of oil will all be put at hazard... The only acceptable strategy is ... to undertake military action as diplomacy is clearly failing. In the long term, it means removing Saddam Hussein and his regime from power. That now needs to become the aim of American foreign policy."
From 1998 Letter to Bill Clinton from Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz and Perle
Alternet, 11 March 2003

"[Richard] Perle is chairman of the powerful Defence Policy Board at the Pentagon, the author of the insane policies of 'total war' and 'creative destruction'. The latter is designed to subjugate finally the Middle East, beginning with the $90bn invasion of Iraq. Perle helped to set up another crypto-fascist group, the Project for the New American Century. Other founders include Vice-President Cheney, the defence secretary Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz. The institute's 'mission report', Rebuilding America's Defences: strategy, forces and resources for a new century, is an unabashed blueprint for world conquest. It is vitally important that we understand their goals and the degree of their ruthlessness. In 1946, Justice Robert Jackson, chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials, said: 'The very essence of the Nuremberg charter is that individuals have international duties which transcend national obligations of obedience imposed by the state.' With an attack on Iraq almost a certainty, the millions who filled London and other capitals on the weekend of 15-16 February, and the millions who cheered them on, now have these transcendent duties."
Disobey by John Pilger
Dissident Voice, March 13, 2003

"The Project for the New American Century [PNAC, supported by key members of the current Bush administration including Cheney, Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz] seeks to establish what they call 'Pax Americana' across the globe. Essentially, their goal is to transform America, the sole remaining superpower, into a planetary empire by force of arms. A report released by PNAC in September of 2000 entitled 'Rebuilding America's Defenses' codifies this plan, which requires a massive increase in defense spending and the fighting of several major theater wars in order to establish American dominance. The first has been achieved in Bush's new budget plan, which calls for the exact dollar amount to be spent on defense that was requested by PNAC in 2000. Arrangements are underway for the fighting of the wars.... The first step towards the establishment of this Pax Americana is, and has always been, the removal of Saddam Hussein and the establishment of an American protectorate in Iraq. The purpose of this is threefold: 1) To acquire control of the oilheads so as to fund the entire enterprise; 2) To fire a warning shot across the bows of every leader in the Middle East; 3) To establish in Iraq a military staging area for the eventual invasion and overthrow of several Middle Eastern regimes, including some that are allies of the United States... Cheney became involved with PNAC officially in 1997, while still profiting from deals between Halliburton and Hussein. One year later, Cheney and PNAC began actively and publicly agitating for war on Iraq. They have not stopped to this very day.... France and Germany do not oppose Bush because they are cowards, or because they enjoy the existence of Saddam Hussein. France and Germany stand against the Bush administration because they intend to stop this Pax Americana in its tracks if they can. They have seen militant fascism up close and personal before, and wish never to see it again. Would that we Americans could be so wise."
William Rivers Pitt, 27 February 2003
New York Times best-selling author of two books - 'War On Iraq' and 'The Greatest Sedition is Silence'

"...the long-term goal, say big-picture analysts, has been in the works for far more than the 23 years since former U.S. president Jimmy Carter linked American security — 'the vital interests of the United States'' — to the Persian Gulf and its oil, and threatened military intervention. This war, say analysts, is about power and oil. It's about control of the Gulf states by means of strategic Iraq and, by extension, a final post-Cold War shakeout to give the U.S. more economic clout over China and Russia by controlling the oil spigot. This is the moment, Thomas Barnett, from the U.S. Naval War College, wrote recently in Esquire magazine, 'when Washington takes real ownership of strategic security in the age of globalization.' The Persian Gulf has the world's biggest oil reserves. After Saudi Arabia, Iraq has the second-largest proven reserves. 'The only precedent to what is shaping up now is the Roman Empire,' says Michael Klare, professor of peace and world security studies at Hampshire College. 'There is only one power. I don't think Britain, France or Spain even came close in other centuries to the United States today. 'If the United States controls Persian Gulf oil fields, it will have a stranglehold on the world economy,'' adds Klare. Washington is betting, Klare believes, that 'controlling Gulf oil, combined with being a decade ahead of everybody else in military technology, will guarantee American supremacy for the next 50 to 100 years.' These ideas aren't new. For years, a small and powerful group, with corporate and political links, pushed the idea of controlling Persian Gulf oil. They did it publicly, at think-tanks and in the media. Now, this coterie of like-minded strategists controls both the Pentagon and the strategic aims of President George W. Bush's White House. 'You've got a team in the White House that is unafraid of world public opinion because they know it is unreliable, self-serving and hypocritical,'' says George Friedman, chair of the intelligence organization, Stratfor. Originally, this was the 'Kissinger plan,'' says James Akins, former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia. He lost his state department job for publicly criticizing administration plans to control Arab oil back in 1975 when Henry Kissinger was secretary of state. 'I thought they were crazy then and they're crazy now,' Akins tells the Star, adding that Congress studied plans to control Persian Gulf oil and concluded the idea was absolute madness. 'I thought this whole thing was dead. But now you've got all these `neo-cons' in power, and here we go again,' says Akins, a Washington-based consultant. 'They figure once they take over Iraq, they don't have to worry about the Saudis.'' Akins adds: 'These people with their imperial ideas see themselves as part of the Great American Empire.' The players have moved steadily through the Republican presidencies of Ronald Reagan and Bush's father, George H.W. Bush and Bush himself."
Oil war: 23 years in the making
Toronto Star, 9 March 2003

"Washington has a long history of intervening in the affairs of other countries, with the oil-rich Persian Gulf being a key focus of past interventions. So, yes, it's not only about oil this time, it's often been about oil... U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney made it clear that oil was front and centre in the U.S. decision to go to war against Iraq the first time. Cheney, who served as secretary of defence in that war, explained to the Senate Armed Services Committee in 1991 that, after invading Kuwait, Iraq controlled 20 per cent of the world's oil reserves. Cheney said that this — and the possibility that Iraq would invade Saudi Arabia — put Saddam Hussein 'clearly in a position to dictate the future of worldwide energy policy and that gave him a stranglehold on our economy and on that of most other nations of the world as well.' The 'stranglehold' image is apt. Because of the acute importance of oil to the modern world, whoever controls the massive reserves of the Gulf effectively has a stranglehold on the global economy."
Rebuffed president recklessly saddles up for war
Toronto Star, 9 March 2003

"It looks as if we [Russians] are not very successful in getting guarantees from the USA that our interests in Iraq will be taken in account. Argumenty i Fakty has been given to understand by a source in Washington that a post-war settlement in Iraq has already been decided with representatives of the Iraqi opposition who will succeed Husayn. The matter was not decided in our favour. According to information available to Argumenty i Fakty, the division of the country will be based on the principle 'the winner gets all'. The four companies which will divide Iraq's oil fields among themselves are already known. They are Exxon Mobil, Chevron, BP Amoco and Royal Dutch Shell. Another two giants, Halliburton and Backtel, will get contracts for the restoration of oil wells and pipelines. The privatization of the Iraqi oil will be run on the basis of a scheme similar to loan auctions in Russia in 1996. There is a joke in Washington political circles that they will use 'Russian know-how' in Iraq. The gist of it is that oil corporations will give a new Iraqi government big loans on conditions which are impossible to meet. The loans will be secured against the oil fields. As soon as the Iraqi authorities delay payments, the oil fields will become the property of the Americans. "
BBC monitoring, Argumenty i Fakty, Moscow, in Russian 5 Mar 03

"We know where the best reserves are in the world. We covet the opportunity to go get those someday,' said Archie Dunham, chairman of ConocoPhillips in Houston. ... 'In the last three or four years, most of the world's oil companies have either visited Iraq or opened offices or had representatives there,' he said. 'They have no choice. It's the world's cheapest oil. They have to be there.'"
To the victor will go the oil
Los Angeles Times, 13 March 2003

"It shocks Europe and the world to the core that Iraqi oil will pay US companies to repair the damage done by US bombs."
Blair won't be forgiven, even if Iraqis dance in the streets
Guardian, 6 March 2003

US 'awarding contracts' for Iraq

"I am writing you to submit my resignation from the Foreign Service of the United States and from my position as Political Counselor in U.S. Embassy Athens, effective March 7... this Administration has chosen to make terrorism a domestic political tool, enlisting a scattered and largely defeated Al Qaeda as its bureaucratic ally [see 'What war against terrorism?', nlpwessex]. We spread disproportionate terror and confusion in the public mind, arbitrarily linking the unrelated problems of terrorism and Iraq. The result, and perhaps the motive, is to justify a vast misallocation of shrinking public wealth to the military and to weaken the safeguards that protect American citizens from the heavy hand of government.... I am resigning because I have tried and failed to reconcile my conscience with my ability to represent the current U.S. Administration."
US State Department Diplomat, Read Kiesling's letter of resignation to Colin Powell - click here

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