The Anti-American Century

Neoconservativism bristles with a stunning array of ideological dogma. The Bush Doctrine is the most well known. It is George Bush’s policy of pre-emptive war, or, as it translates into the plain-spoken parlance of the wild west, “Shoot first and ask questions later.”

The Patriot Act is another ideological achievement of neoconservativism. The Patriot Act eviscerated Amendments 4, 5 and 6 of the Bill of Rights, and it has helped to undermine the First Amendment that protects freedom of speech.

The Iraq Resolution that effectively removed the exclusive authority of Congress to wage war is yet another milestone in the march of neoconservativism. However, the over-arching ideological ornament of neoconservativism is, without any question, the Project for a New American Century (PNAC).

PNAC is a Washington think tank established by the leading lights of neoconservativism: Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Richard Perle, Eliot Abrams, Jeb Bush and Paul Wolfowitz. The ideological core of PNAC is defined in their hihgly publicized paper, “Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources for a New Century,” which was published in September, 2000. The goals of PNAC are stark:

Establish a global American empire,

Secure it with military bases arrayed in an arc from Europe through the Middle East to South East Asia,

Under the banner of “modernization” launch an extravagantly expensive new arms race,

Develop the ultra-costly Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) known as ‘Star Wars’,

Weaponize outer space by placing nuclear bombs in orbit,

Control cyber space and all information on the internet and the traditional media by fiat from the White House,

In order to bankrupt all entitlement programs, increase defense spending to dizzyingly higher levels.

There are other, even more ominous elements to the PNAC agenda. One of the most troubling is for America to, “fight and decisively win multiple, simultaneous major theater wars.” Planning for the next major theater war against Iran is in a very advanced stage. Yet another is their declared longing for a catastrophic, “new Pearl Harbor,” which would function as a triggering event to accelerate the radicalization of America into an imperialistic superpower dedicated to the realization of neoconservativism. Coincidentally, 9/11 served as that triggering event. From the standpoint of the neoconservatives, another major terrorist atrocity on American soil would accelerate the process of radical transformation that they have advocated in print since 2000.

Today, the neoconservative agenda has been in power for more than four years. In that relatively short span of time it has wrought major changes in US policies. The media have been subjugated to the whims of the neoconservative national security agenda driving the Bush White House.

This subordination of the media is seen as a distasteful but necessary by-product of the war on terror. In the course of the transformation, the American people have been keenly attuned to the most finite nuances of terror. In effect, the American people have been brain-washed en masse into fearing for their very existence. The notorious system of Terror Alerts was designed to create Pavlovian responses in the American people on demand whenever it is deemed politically desirable to give them a massive injection of fear. Programmed to sweat bullets, bullied into genuflecting before every military and police uniform, goaded into braying for the blood of each and every demonic enemy of the American State, a solid cadre of circa 20% of the US population are now cowed into submission. These highly responsive neoconservative cadres are deeply devoted to their new roles as sponsors, supporters and slaves to the rhythm of terror and its neoconservative agenda.

In the process of transformation into a radicalized neoconservative society, America has sacrificed her commitment to fair and open elections. Technology has played a part in the disintegration of America’s political legitimacy. The introduction of paperless, computerized voting machines in the mid-1990s was the telltale symptom of what has become the eradication of America’s self-image as the gold standard of democracy.

On Saturday, a group of 300,000 Iraqis rallied in Baghdad’s Firdaus Square to denounce the American occupation. Carrying effigies of Saddam Hussein, George Bush and Tony Blair the largest public demonstration in the history of Iraq demanded the immediate withdrawal of all US forces and the return of full sovereignty and temporal power to the people. While the neoconservative bilge is being eagerly swallowed at home, it is being repudiated abroad.

The neoconservatives never realized that their design for a new American century based on oil, imperialism and military hegemony would actually result in the swift globalization of anti-Americanism.

If the global economy continues on its present course, in a few years time, we shall all have to learn to read and write and speak Chinese fluently in order to find jobs above the poverty level. The world has decided that it does not want the New American Century on offer from the neoconservatives. When will American voters wake up to the reality that they have helped to launch an Anti-American Century?

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Since 1968, Michael Carmichael has been a professional political consultant. Beginning as a Student Coordinator for Robert F. Kennedy, he has worked in five US presidential campaigns as well as over 100 major American political campaigns for federal and state offices. In 1985, he founded The Oxford Centre for Public Affairs in the United Kingdom. In 2003, he founded The Planetary Movement Limited, a global political action organization based in the United Kingdom.

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Last Update: 03/23/2006

MICHAEL CARMICHAEL, AAPC, EAPC, IAPC

The Anti-American Century