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<\/p>\n1992 was a difficult year for the Neoconservatives who thought that whatever Reagan was doing would last for eternity. At the end of a single term, George H.W. Bush, Reagan’s successor, got beaten by Bill Clinton. They never got over it, still haven’t. I’m not sure what it was about Reagan that was so compelling to them. This graph is what a lot of us saw, and it was terrifying. He cut taxes, and it shows how:<\/p>\n
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He tripled the national debt is how. But for the eight years Clinton was in office, the Neoconservative group sulked, many of them at the American Enterprise Institute<\/strong><\/a> at 1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20036. In 1997, a big bunch of them got together and formed the Project for the New American Century<\/strong><\/a>, also at <\/span>1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20036. In order for this post to make sense, you’ll need to read their Statement of Principles<\/a><\/strong> and read who signed it. In that document, they lay out a basic framework for a foreign policy that returns to whatever it was that Reagan did that struck them as so great.<\/span><\/p>\n Comes now 2000, and George W. Bush got [sort of] elected running on a platform that opposed nation building and mainly appealed to the religious right. Then he imported the A.E.I.<\/strong> and P.N.A.C.<\/strong> Reaganite Neoconservatives en masse<\/em> into his Administration. Not too long after he was elected, we were attacked by Al Qaeda on September 11, 2001. Somehow in the mayhem thereafter, we were pushed by the Administration to go to war with Iraq, and that’s what we did. The reasons presented were to shut down Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction program – a program they didn’t have, and cut off their ties with Al Qaeda, ties that didn’t exist.<\/p>\n In 2002, George Bush signed The National Security Strategy of the United States of America<\/strong><\/a>. Read it carefully, and compare it to the Principles<\/strong><\/a> of the Project for the New American Century<\/strong><\/a>. What you’ll find is that the Neoconservatives’ document was lifted lock stock and barrel, into a national policy. The National Security Strategy of the United States of America<\/strong><\/a> sits there on the White House Internet Site for all of us to read, though I doubt it gets that many hits in a routine day. Here’s how it starts:<\/p>\n Moving right along:<\/p>\n This is the table of contents for the whole document: <\/p>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n The great struggles of the twentieth century between liberty and totalitarianism ended with a decisive victory for the forces of freedom—and a single sustainable model for national success: freedom, democracy, and free enterprise. In the twenty-first century, only nations that share a commitment to protecting basic human rights and guaranteeing political and economic freedom will be able to unleash the potential of their people and assure their future prosperity. People everywhere want to be able to speak freely; choose who will govern them; worship as they please; educate their children—male and female; own property; and enjoy the benefits of their labor. These values of freedom are right and true for every person, in every society—and the duty of protecting these values against their enemies is the common calling of freedom-loving people across the globe and across the ages.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n Today, the United States enjoys a position of unparalleled military strength and great economic and political influence. In keeping with our heritage and principles, we do not use our strength to press for unilateral advantage.We seek instead to create a balance of power that favors human freedom: conditions in which all nations and all societies can choose for themselves the rewards and challenges of political and economic liberty. In a world that is safe, people will be able to make their own lives better.We will defend the peace by fighting terrorists and tyrants.We will preserve the peace by building good relations among the great powers. We will extend the peace by encouraging free and open societies on every continent.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n