Trinicenter.com - A wake up call

By Doreen Miller, April 5 YellowTimes.org

Now that the United States, in full defiance of the U.N. Security Council and the opinion of the greater majority of people around the world, has begun its war against Iraq, it is imperative that we not be bedazzled by the image of the great and powerful Oz spouting promises of liberation and democracy. Rather, we must tear away the curtain and expose the man, or in this case, the group of men operating the controls behind this cloak of deceit.

The invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of Saddam's regime has been in the works for a decade now, but especially since the spring of 1997 when the Project for the New American Century (PNAC) was established. The group of men involved in this project wrote and published in 1998 a lengthy and detailed document called "Rebuilding America's Defenses," which was modeled after the defense strategy outlined by the Cheney Defense Department in early 1992. Those directly involved in the creation of this document include, among others, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Elliot Abrams, I. Lewis Libby, Peter Rodman, and Gov. Jeb Bush, all now in policy-shaping positions of tremendous influence and power within the U.S. government.

"Rebuilding America's Defenses" directly mentions as a goal the removal of the regime of Saddam Hussein: "...the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein." Saddam was slated to go to create the necessary circumstances for a permanent U.S. presence in Iraq.

It also explicitly names Kim Jong-il of North Korea and the need to remove him from power as well. They ambitiously project "unquestioned [global] U.S. military preeminence" and the shaping of "the international security order [to be] in line with American principles and interests." These men have plotted to "preserve American geopolitical leadership" via "U.S. power projection around the world" in places like Europe, the Middle East and East Asia, for the latter most notably the Korean peninsula and the Philippines. Indeed, the current build-up of U.S. troops in the Philippines and in areas of East Asia substantiates the beginning stages of the implementation of U.S. imperialism as outlined in this document.

To oversee this mission of world dominance, the plan calls for the establishment of permanent aircraft bases in Italy, South East Europe, Central and Eastern Turkey, the Persian Gulf and South East Asia. It is recommended that the number of U.S. Air Forces in Europe be increased by "one to two and a half wing equivalents, " its forces in East Asia doubled, and a wing stationed in the Philippines and Australia for the purpose of "sustained global reach." It is emphasized throughout, "American forces must remain employed abroad in large numbers."

Fearing a strong, united Europe, these men declare: "It is important that NATO not be replaced by the European Union, leaving the U.S. without a voice in the European security affairs." They point out the opportunity to exploit the weak alliances between the Arab nations in order to invade and secure that region for U.S interests when they state, "the actions of our adversaries in these regions [of the Middle East] bear no more than a tangential [meaning barely or loosely connected] relationship to one another..."

Iraq is just the first step in a much greater plan to reconfigure and dominate the Middle East to control its resources. In "Rebuilding America's Defenses," Iran is directly mentioned as being as large a threat as Iraq to U.S. interests. Indeed, this document places great emphasis on "fighting and winning multiple simultaneous large-scale wars" whenever and wherever we need to secure American interests.

There is one particular sentence in "Rebuilding America's Defenses" that I found to be especially troubling, given that it was written some 5-6 years ago: "The process of transformation … is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event -- like a new Pearl Harbor." The events of 9-11 gave these same men who drafted this plan for the new American century of world dominance exactly the pretext and catalyst they needed to forge ahead more aggressively to realize their dreams to reshape the world as they see fit. Now everything they undertake militarily can be justified by the war on terrorism.

For the United States to secure its global military preeminence and position of sole superpower, it will continue to demand that its adversaries unilaterally disarm. Revealingly, the document states, "When their missiles are tipped with warheads carrying nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, even weak regional powers have a credible deterrent..."

Is it any wonder then that the United States demanded that Saddam destroy his arsenal of chemical and biological weapons, knowing full well it was planning, from as far back as six years ago, to invade his country and overthrow his regime? The only reason we are invading Iraq today is that we rest fairly assured that the vast majority of Saddam's weapons of mass destruction have been eliminated by U.N. inspections over the years, virtually guaranteeing our chances of a swift military victory.

If there is a warning to be heeded here, then it is imperative that the countries in the Middle East, if they wish to survive as sovereign nations, must immediately commence to create strong economic, political and, above all, military alliances with one another in order to present a unified front and deterrence to the United States and its hegemonic ambitions. As Dreyfuss states, the threat is great that whole regions of the Middle East will "end up as dismantled, unstable shards in the form of mini-states that resemble Yugoslavia's piecemeal wreckage."

I sound the clarion call, not only to the Middle Eastern nations, but to nations all around the globe. Awaken, before it is too late, to the realization of the unstated goals and secret ambitions of the current U.S. leaders hiding behind the curtain that camouflages their true intentions couching them in pleasant-sounding yet for them vacuous terms of liberty, democracy and freedom.

As a united front, all nations must rein in this administration that has been unleashed upon the world. If you wish your lives and your resources to truly be your own, then the time to organize and forge strong alliances with other nations against the imperialistic march of the United States is now.

[Doreen Miller lived, studied, worked and traveled abroad for several years, and is currently a Senior Lecturer and educator of international students. She dedicates part of her time to serving the elderly and Alzheimer patients. Mother, musician and poet, she pursues an avid interest in Buddhist and Eastern philosophy. She advocates human rights, social justice, fair trade, and environmental protection. Doreen lives in the United States.]