Friday, December 31, 2004

Exporting Unhappiness by SUNANDA K. DATTA-RAY

True, it means the neo-conservative lobby has been invigorated for another term. But another president would probably have made as little difference as Colin Powell’s replacement by Condoleezza Rice has done. Heady on a new variant of the American Dream, Washington is determined to grasp what it sees as its ordained destiny ever since the Soviet Union collapsed.

Thursday, December 30, 2004

Neo-cons can't escape responsibility for their Iraq miscalculations by Joseph L. Galloway

When Rumsfeld goes, so too should every neo-conservative who squirmed his way into a Pentagon sinecure. They must also bear responsibility for a war that so far has cost nearly $200 billion and the lives of more than 1,300 American troops and has damaged America's standing in the world.

Wednesday, December 29, 2004

A Holiday Carol for NeoCons by Martin Kelly

You endorsed a constitution for Iraq that included Islamic Sharia law as a source. Because of your actions, the people of Iraq now have no freedom. Their journey has ended in the opposite direction to the one my brothers and I started in 1776 – tell me, Ebenezer, were we more enlightened than you? You live in a great land of plenty, where none need ever want – but did we know more of liberty than you?’

Who's in Charge of Russia Policy? by Pat Buchanan

"Are the neoconservatives and their neoliberal collaborators in the global crusade for democracy pushing America into confrontation and a second Cold War with Russia? So it would seem. "

If President Bush will not get control of NED and its progeny, or defund the rogues, or assume responsibility for them all, Congress must hold public hearings. At least let the people know who is steering us into a new Cold War with Russia and the "World War IV" that ex-Director Woolsey and his friends have in store for us.

The Neoconnerie: Of Lice and Fleas by Ilana Mercer

Duly, our neoconservative Nostradamus Gerecht predicts a favorable outcome in the event the U.S. decides to launch a missile attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. "Iranians are not nationalist automatons – they are among the most profound, cynical patriots imaginable," he patronizes. Americans can carpet bomb Iran's nuclear plants to their heart's content. There's no danger this will dissipate the average Iranian's detestation for the mullahs and spur an insurgency against the U.S.

Bye, Bye Unipolar World by Jim Lobe

Krauthammer himself laid out the neoconservative vision of early 2004 in a triumphalist speech entitled "Democratic Realism: An American Foreign Policy for a Unipolar World" at the annual celebration of Vice President Dick Cheney's favorite think tank, the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). It claimed that the United States "has been designated custodian of the international system" by virtue of its military superiority.

Monday, December 27, 2004

Neocons pin Iraq on Rumsfeld by ROBERT NOVAK

The neocon message is that the war was no mistake but has been badly conducted. While Adelman does not blame his friend Rumsfeld, the accountability of the secretary of defense is implicit. Kristol's call for Rumsfeld's dismissal removes culpability for those who beat the drums to go to war.

The Fallacy of '39 by Justin Raimondo

Kristof is selling to the liberals what the neocons have been retailing to the American right-wing: the story that Russia is rising, reverting to Stalinism (or "progressing" to fascism). The next step will be to raise a hue and cry over Russian "rearmament" as we encircle the Kremlin from the Baltic Sea to the Caspian, fomenting "democratic" revolutions on the periphery while moving inexorably toward the center. A renewed arms race and the return of the cold war – all launched under the rubric of exporting "democracy" and "free markets." This new Russophobia has something for everyone.

Neo-fascism in America by Jim Macgregor

"Bottom line, are the neo-cons driving this agenda neo-fascist? Dr. Lawrence Britt, a political scientist, published research on fascism [18] in which he examined the fascist regimes of Hitler, Mussolini, Franco, Suharto and several Latin American regimes. Britt found 14 defining characteristics common to each fascist State:"

Neocons and the Cult of State by Chris Moore

"As a neocon leftist, Beinart's enthusiasm for using the state to terrorize a religion into submission is understandable. After all, many on the American left have long had mixed emotions about the Soviet ambition to erase Christianity from the face of the earth, and many continue to be hostile to Christianity today."

Neocons Target Rumsfeld by GARY LEUPP

In any case, Rumsfeld's departure might only increase neocon influence, while what today seems unthinkable becomes thinkable. Imagine the administration announcing, in the patriotic, shell-shocked atmosphere following another terrorist attack, that the nation has no choice but to reinstate conscription. Given immediately imaginable alternatives, one almost feels relieved by Bush's continuing public support for his war secretary under fire.

Sunday, December 26, 2004

World Net Daily: GI's Can Be Forced to Wear UN Beret, Court Says

Mark Dankof reminds BATR readers to read his tribute to Daniel New at www.MarkDankof.com after the obscene verdict--noted at World Net Daily-- by Federal Judge James Friedman that Dan's son, Michael, and other American patriots in military uniform can--and will--be forced by the Imperial American Presidency to don the uniforms and the global policeman agenda of The United Nations.

Be sure to have a drink this New Year's Eve to toast the end of the American Republic and its Constitutional heritage and guarantees. Welcome to One-World Government and The New World Order.

Friday, December 24, 2004

The Devil's Christmas by Justin Raimondo

The Devil's Christmas- by Justin Raimondo: "Justin Raimondo"

The professional super-"patriots" and other "pro-American" neocons, who manage to get themselves worked up over accusations of "treason" – either real or imagined – and the alleged "betrayals" of our allies, have been strangely silent when it comes to Israel's apparent treachery.

Wednesday, December 22, 2004

Christmas And The National Question: One Cheer For Krauthammer by Sam Francis

VDARE.com: 12/20/04 - Christmas And The National Question: One Cheer For Krauthammer:

"A tip of the hat to Charles Krauthammer, Jewish neoconservative (not necessarily a redundancy, despite what many neocons claim) who last week lobbed a much-merited smack at the face of the anti-Christmas lobby. "

Now They're After Rummy by Justin Raimondo

Now They're After Rummy- by Justin Raimondo

Parasites eventually kill their host. The neoconservatives won't be happy until Rummy's dried-up husk is left by the roadside, and their chosen replacement – Wolfowitz? Woolsey? neocon tool "Stormin' Norman" Schwarzkopf? – marches triumphantly into Syria, Lebanon, Iran, and – eventually – Saudi Arabia.

Scapegoating Rumsfeld by Patrick J. Buchanan

Scapegoating Rumsfeld by Patrick J. Buchanan

Ever since he signed on with their Committee on the Present Danger in the 1980s, Rumsfeld had been a hero to neocons. In 1998, he signed Kristol's open letter to Clinton calling for war on Iraq, four years before 9-11. Named defense secretary, Rumsfeld brought in neocons Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas Feith as his No. 2 and No. 3, and let them fill the building with friends from Neocon Central, the American Enterprise Institute.

To neocons, this war was never about WMD or any alleged Iraqi ties to 9-11. That was merely to mobilize the masses for war. Their real reason was empire and making the Middle East safe for Israel.

Monday, December 20, 2004

Is America planning new imperial adventures? by Patrick Seale

The Daily Star - Opinion Articles - Is America planning new imperial adventures?

What does Kristol recommend? "We could bomb Syrian military facilities; we could go across the border in force to stop infiltration; we could occupy the town of Abu Kamal in eastern Syria, which seems to be the planning and organising center for Syrian activities in Iraq; we could covertly help or overtly support the Syrian opposition."

Neocons an emblem of change by JANINE R. WEDEL

Albany, N.Y. -- timesunion.com

In 2001, Perle and Wolfowitz championed Feith for undersecretary for policy at the Pentagon. In that post, Feith selected Perle as chairman of the Defense Policy Board, a Pentagon advisory body with a mixed state-private character that gives its members access to classified information. (Perle resigned as chairman in March 2003 amid allegations of conflicts of interest, and from the board a year later.)

Friday, December 17, 2004

Neo-cons on the road to Damascus by Jim Lobe

Asia Times - Asia's most trusted news source for the Middle East:

"The media campaign was launched last week when three analysts associated with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a neo-conservative group that generally backs positions of Israel's right-wing Likud Party, published an article in the Washington Times titled 'Syria's murderous role: Assad aides [sic] Iraq's terrorist insurgency'. "

In Bed with Terrorists by Laura Rozen

AlterNet: War on Iraq: In Bed with Terrorists

A battle is brewing within the ranks of neoconservatives in Washington. Public flashes of private quarrels are uncommon among this rarefied circle of uber-hawks, who have been unanimous in shaping and supporting the Bush administration's aggressive foreign policy. Yet they find themselves at odds over the most unlikely of issues: an Iranian terrorist group.

Israel's Fifth Column in Washington by Justin Raimondo

Israel's Fifth Column in Washington- by Justin Raimondo

Those few neocons who have deigned to notice two raids in as many months on AIPAC headquarters have done nothing but apologize for and otherwise excuse and cover-up what is apparently a massive spy operation launched by Israel against the United States. The best our super- "patriotic" neocons can do is echo the complaints in the Israeli media that the whole thing is a "set-up" engineered by those notorious anti-Semites in the U.S. Justice Department.

Thursday, December 16, 2004

Syria, the next target? Paul Rogers

Syria, the next target? Paul Rogers - openDemocracy: "Syria, the next target? "

The neo-conservative Project for the New American Century (PNAC) has just issued one of its rare policy statements demanding a tougher line on North Korea. Nicholas Eberstadt has expanded on this in a key article in the neocon Weekly Standard ("Tear Down This Tyranny", 29 November 2004).

Reza Pahlavi on Radio Israel. What Does it Mean?

The December 10th edition of the International Jerusalem Post has a cover story entitled, "The Iranian Threat: A Nearly Nuclearized Islamic Republic Targets Israel." Now, the heir to the Pahlavi Throne and Dynasty, Reza Pahlavi, turns up on Radio Israel's international shortwave radio broadcast.

Mark Dankof suggests a possible link and underlying significance. His recommendation to BATR readers is that of Christ in the Olivet Discourse: "Watch" (Matthew 24).

Mark Dankof's America

www.MarkDankof.com

Evildoers, here we come by Pepe Escobar

Evildoers, here we come

The Balkanization of the Arab and Muslim Middle East is a follow-up to the "divide and rule" of British colonialism. It's in the heart of the neo-con agenda. Arab nationalism has to be smashed. And Persian nationalism as well.

The neo-con dream is a stable Iraq by the end of 2005 so the US can concentrate on attacking Iran. With the US still bogged down in a dreadful Iraqi quagmire, the well-oiled neo-con propaganda machine is already full speed ahead manufacturing its trademark brand of fear: Iranian nukes are coming to get us unless we pre-emptively attack (echoes of Ronald Reagan's "Nicaraguan Sandinistas about to invade Texas" come to mind).

History Debunks Bush Myth by Jim Lobe

History Debunks Bush Myth by Jim Lobe

To the administration's neoconservative boosters, Bush represents a synthesis of the wisdom of the two presidents – the Republican realist and the Democratic idealist – who are among the most beloved in the generally hazy historical memory of the nation.

But according to the The Folly of Empire, a book published this fall by John Judis, this interpretation of history is nonsense.

Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Lethal Weapons: Neocon Groupies by Ilana Mercer

Lethal Weapons: Neocon Groupies - by Ilana Mercer

So I'm not sure why I was even remotely shocked to see Canadian serial sexual stalker Rachel Marsden play parrot to Bush booster Dennis Miller on his little-watched CNBC chatshow. (She was billed as a conservative "political columnist.")

This is what Scott McConnell, editor of The American Conservative, meant by "a vulgarized neoconservatism" (I can think of a better adjective for its gynocentric permutation). No doubt, the women of the neoconnerie have been instrumental in keeping their fans tuned-out, turned-on, and hot for war.

The Fool's Gold of NeoConservatism by Martin Kelly

The Washington Dispatch

But the neos couldn’t care less – opportunity in adversity, right? If Wall Street tanks, there will be plenty of rich pickings for the private equity specialists like the Carlyle Group, one of whose directors is George H.W. Bush, to pick up.

Battle for the Future Not Over by Patrick J. Buchanan

Battle for the Future Not Over by Patrick J. Buchanan

While there is no shortage of neocon war plans for a Pax Americana, President Bush is bumping up against reality – a U.S. Army tied down and bleeding in Iraq, the rising costs of war, soaring deficits, a sinking dollar and an absence of allies willing to fight beside us or even help. He is facing the Vietnam dilemma.

Monday, December 13, 2004

A Dose of Non-Delusional Reality for Douglas Feith by PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

Paul Craig Roberts: a Dose of Non-Delusional Reality for Douglas Feith

Israel's rightwing Likud Party regards Feith as one of its own. The Jerusalem Post described Feith as "a staunch supporter of Israel" (Dec. 12). In an exclusive interview Feith told that paper that despite the intercession of Britain, France, Germany and the IAEA against a US attack on Iran, the Bush administration has not ruled out taking military action against Iran.


What Food-for-Oil Scandal? By JUDE WANNISKI

Jude Wanniski: What Food-for-Oil Scandal?

It`s clear enough the neo-cons and the news outlets that do their bidding are behind the "scandal" story.

In the Times account, Richard Holbrooke, the ambassador to the United Nations under president Bill Clinton and an Annan backer, said: "The danger now is that a group of people who want to destroy or paralyse the UN are beginning to pick up support from some of those whose goal is to reform it."

Sunday, December 12, 2004

Feith to 'Post': US action against Iran can't be ruled out by CAROLINE GLICK

Feith stated that the US is now concentrating on "a process to try to get the existing international legal mechanisms – the nonproliferation treaty [and] the International Atomic Energy Agency – to work, to bring the kind of pressure to bear on Iran that would induce the Iranians to follow the path that Libya took in deciding that they were actually better off in abandoning their WMD [weapons of mass destruction] programs."

Realists Rebuffed: A vulgarized neconservatism in the saddle by Scott McConnell

Realists Rebuffed: A vulgarized neconservatism in the saddle

What became of the realists? Like the neocons, they are only policy intellectuals and bureaucrats, dependent on the politicians who appoint them. Among educated Americans, they won the foreign-policy debate decisively. No one doubts it. There are scores of bright people from George Will to William F. Buckley to Kenneth Pollack who are born-again realists; no one has recently converted to neoconservatism. But the realists did not win the debate inside Bush’s brain—indeed, there is no sign at all that the president was aware that there was a foreign-policy debate going on. Instead a 51-48 percent victory, a pitiful margin for an incumbent during wartime, is treated as a landslide of Reaganesque proportions and a mandate for the president to promote those whose foreign-policy advice has proved egregiously wrong.

Friday, December 10, 2004

How Teddy Roosevelt Fathered the "Bush Doctrine" by David T. Beito and William Marina



Neo-conservatives around George W. Bush remain obsessed with extending U.S. military power around the world but seem oblivious to the emerging economic crisis facing this country. Last month alone, the federal deficit reached $55 billion and the U.S. Congress approved a new national debt level of $8 trillion. How long can this legacy of Teddy Roosevelt’s imperialism, this internal contradiction of empire, endure? Only time will tell.

Thursday, December 09, 2004

There Has Been a Fascist Coup in This Country by Seth Farber, PhD

Coastal Post Online

The neo-con imperial strategy towards the Arab world is distinctive. It basically involves--at least in the mind of its American Likudnik designers-- fighting a proxy war for Israel in the Mideast. This has been the dream of Israeli Likudniks since Oded Yinon first articulated it in 1982, as discussed in Ralph Schoenmann's book The Hidden History of Zionism. Instead of working with "friendly" Arab regimes they will be overthrown, one by one. This is all articulated in the writings of American neo-cons. Israel will be the hegemon of Middle East. How can Bush do this with resources strained in Iraq? They'll find a way. The prologue will be a new propaganda build-up with perhaps another Pearl Harbor attack within the US. Then there will be the institution of a draft, of course.

Nukes, Neo-Cons, and the Bush Who Cried Wolf Again by Steve Weissman

t r u t h o u t - Steve Weissman | Nukes, Neo-Cons, and the Bush Who Cried Wolf Again

Other than contributing to Israel's growing isolation, the main impact of the Israeli raid came in Washington, where Michael Ledeen, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, and other Neo-Conservatives took it as their leitmotif. If you have power, use it. And if you see a threat down the road, strike now. Don't wait. Pre-empt.

Wednesday, December 08, 2004

The US retreat from democratization by Erich Marquardt

Asia Times - Asia's most trusted news source for the Middle East

One of the prime motives for the intervention in Iraq was to test the neo-conservative theory of democratic transformation in the Middle East. This theory's chance for success was questionable from the very beginning, since there are few historical examples of an outside power intervening in a country with vast cultural differences and successfully implementing a market democracy there. Additionally, Iraq was a very poor choice for the execution of this theory to begin with, considering that the country has never settled the question of how power will be shared between its three main ethnic/religious groups (Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurd); creating a power vacuum in such a state is a sure way to pull the intervening power into the center of civil strife and potential civil war.

Tuesday, December 07, 2004

Despite Cabinet shuffle, neocon ideology remains by Peter S. Canellos

Boston.com / News / Politics / Presidential candidates / George W. Bush / Despite Cabinet shuffle, neocon ideology remains

Donald Rumsfeld will continue as defense secretary, and as long as he stays the neoconservatives who dominated the first term will hold sway over foreign policy.

Whither the neocons was the great question of the Bush campaign. And it was, perhaps, the most important question of the entire 2004 election, because it would define Bush's doctrine of preemption. But it was not answered until last weekend, when Rumsfeld confirmed that he was keeping his job.

Monday, December 06, 2004

Card wins Legal Action against Pipes by Juan Cole

Readers know that one of Pipes's fellow travellers recently brandished an outrageous threat to sue me for libel recently, for which he had no grounds. It should be emphasized that all three of these techniques-- untrue charges of antisemitism, intensive spying on private persons, and vague threats of libel suits on shaky grounds, are used by American and Israeli-American sympathizers with the far rightwing Likud Party in an attempt to cast a chill on Americans' freedom to critique Israeli misdeeds in the West Bank and Gaza. Card's lawsuit was obviously well founded, and was not intended to intimidate or to suppress speech, but simply to defend himself from false charges of bigotry.

The New Cold War by Justin Raimondo

As the epicenter of the Orthodox Christian Slavic civilization, Russia finds itself under attack on several fronts: not only in the Ukraine but also in Chechnya, where American neoconservatives have taken up the cause of Al Qaeda-linked "freedom fighters" and denounced Russian president Vladimir Putin as an aspiring "dictator."

Sunday, December 05, 2004

Republicans, neocons should quit whining

The Telegraph Online

To the Republicans’ and neocons’ incessant complaining about how liberals should give their support and respect to our current president, who by the way won election by just a mere, non-mandate and non-runaway 2-plus percent of the popular 2004 vote, let’s not forget that both wins by William J. Clinton were by much greater margins against his rivals.


Friday, December 03, 2004

Douglas Feith Profile

Typical of other neoconservatives, Feith in public statements has not made reference to his own Zionist convictions. Rather in congressional testimony and in op-eds in major media, Feith has instead argued that U.S. policy in the Middle East should be guided by concerns about human rights and democracy. Israel, according to Feith, should never enter into good-faith negotiations with Arab countries or the PA because they are not democratic.

AIPAC's Overt and Covert Ops by Juan Cole

CBS is reporting that a Defense Intelligence Agency analyst detailed to Undersecretary of Defense for Planning Douglas Feith's Office of Special Plans is under FBI investigation for spying for Israel. The person passed to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) confidential documents, including those detailing Bush administration policy toward Iran, and AIPAC then passed them to Israel. There are wiretaps and photographs backing up the FBI case (the FBI agents involved are extremely brave to take this on).

Thursday, December 02, 2004

Who’s a Fascist? by Paul Gottfried

Peter Brimelow was correct to observe in last weekend’s Internet chat that neoconservatives believe not in fascism but in "Goldbergism" when they push for open borders and an aggressive foreign policy in the name of human rights. Jonah Goldberg, one of their major political theorists, has explained on NROnline that European conservatives like Joseph de Maistre were really on the left, seeing that they rejected "human rights," which is the essence of a conservative belief system. No matter how silly Goldberg’s interpretation may seem, what he enunciates is the current neoconservative dogma that justifies imperial expansion.

If It's 2005, It Must Be Time For Another War by Ted Rall

Only the Bushiban know whether they plan to invade Iran. But, as Time magazine reports, "the neoconservative hawks who championed the Iraq war have long advocated an aggressive pursuit of regime change in Iran." Washington kremlinologists are waiting to see whether Bush will promote anti-Iran neocon John Bolton from Undersecretary of State for Arms Control to Deputy Secretary of State. A Bolton ascension, goes the word on K Street, probably means a third war.

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Neo-cons jump on anti-UN bandwagon by Jim Lobe

Neo-conservatives began moving against the United Nations after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and accelerated that after the 1973 October war, when Israel found itself repeatedly isolated and assailed in the General Assembly and the Security Council by the Soviet Bloc and the Third World countries in the Non-Aligned Movement.