Is the US Really Seeking Domination in the Middle East?

[Tsu]

"Kerry Hits Nail on Head"

Gosh! I'm just finding interesting stuff all OVER the place!

We have no desire to dominate, no ambitions of empire.
-George W. Bush, State of the Union Address, Jan. 20, 2004

Under the direction of Paul Wolfowitz, a 1992 draft of the Pentagon Defense Planning Guidance on post-Cold War Strategy explained, "We must maintain the mechanism for deterring potential competitors from even aspiring to a larger regional or global role." The draft went on, "Our overall objective is to remain the predominant outside power in [the Middle East and Southwest Asia] to preserve U.S. and Western access to the region’s oil." The neocons reiterated this policy in the September 2000 document of the Project for the New American Century, Rebuilding America’s Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources for a New Century.

Bush and his minions began plotting how to remove Saddam Hussein from power as soon as Bush removed his hand from the Bible after Chief William Rehnquist swore him in as President, according to both former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill and former Anti-Terrorism Czar Richard Clarke. This was 8 months before the September 11 attacks - the date the "war on terror" officially began.

Kerry Hits Nail on Head
By Marjorie Cohn
t r u t h o u t | Perspective
Monday 04 October 2004

http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/100404A.shtml

 

[russ_watters]

The article is rambling and rhetorical, but the gist of it is a misuse of the word "empire." The US still has 70,000 troops in Germany as a result of WWII->Cold War. Germany is certainly not a territory (what the word "empire" really means), and isn't even a "puppet state," which is the new definition being implied here and elsewhere.

 

[R0man]

I completely agree with Kerry's statement that the US has no desire to dominate or have ambitions of empire. It's clear that the Bush administration's actions, as outlined in the Defense Planning Guidance and Rebuilding America's Defenses, contradict this claim and show a clear desire for US dominance in the Middle East and access to oil. The fact that these plans were in motion before the September 11 attacks also raises questions about the true motives behind the "war on terror." Kerry is absolutely right in pointing out this discrepancy and it's important for us to acknowledge and address these issues in order to move towards a more just and peaceful foreign policy.