Since this thread is specifically about Iran, I thought I'd focus on an important document called
Rebuilding America's Defenses, published in September 2000 by a group called "The Project for a New American Century"; many of its members later became the core of the George W. Bush administration. Their
stated goal was to use America’s hugely expanded military to project "American global leadership" for "America's interests" (not the interests of the average American citizen). They had Iraq, Iran and North Korea among others down on their regime change to do list, to be done under the bogus concern of stopping the production of nuclear arms.
Axis of Evil:
"While adversaries like Iran, Iraq and North Korea are rushing to develop ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons as a deterrent to American intervention in regions they seek to dominate." - pg. 4
"U.S. nuclear force planning and related arms control policies must take account of a larger set of variables than in the past, including the growing number of small nuclear arsenals - from North Korea to Pakistan to, perhaps soon, Iran and Iraq" - pg. 8
"That is why, according to the CIA, a number of regimes deeply hostile to America - North Korea, Iraq, Iran, Libya and Syria - "already have or are developing ballistic missiles" that could threaten U.S allies and forces abroad." - pg. 51
"In the post-Cold War era, America and its allies, rather than the Soviet Union, have become the primary objects of deterrence and it is states like Iraq, Iran and North Korea who most wish to develop deterrent capabilities." - pg. 54
"We cannot allow North Korea, Iran, Iraq or similar states to undermine American leadership, intimidate American allies or threaten the American homeland itself." - pg. 75
"American military preeminence will continue to rest in significant part on the ability to maintain sufficient land forces to achieve political goals such as removing a dangerous and hostile regime when necessary" - pg. 61
WMD’s:
"While reconfiguring its nuclear force, the United States also must counteract the effects of the proliferation of ballistic missiles and weapons of mass destruction that may soon allow lesser states to deter U.S. military action by threatening U.S. allies and the American homeland itself." - pg 6
"But it is precisely because we have such power that smaller adversarial states, looking for an equalizing advantage, are determined to acquire their own weapons of mass destruction." - pg. 7
"Moreover, there is a question about the role nuclear weapons should play in deterring the use of other kinds of weapons of mass destruction, such as chemical and biological," - pg. 8
"Conversely, past analyses of a defense of South Korea may have underestimated the difficulties of such a war, especially if North Korea employed weapons of mass destruction, as intelligence estimates anticipate." - pg. 9
"weak states operating small arsenals of crude ballistic missiles, armed with basic nuclear warheads or other weapons of mass destruction, will be a in a strong position to deter the United States from using conventional force," - pg. 12
"And finally, point defenses, even when they successfully intercept an incoming missile, may not offset the effects against weapons of mass destruction." - pg. 53
"The current American peace will be short-lived if the United States becomes vulnerable to rogue powers with small, inexpensive arsenals of ballistic missiles and nuclear warheads or other weapons of mass destruction. We cannot allow North Korea, Iran, Iraq or similar states to undermine American leadership, intimidate American allies or threaten the American homeland itself." - pg. 75
Policing the World:
Policing, or the term they prefer, "constabulary duties" are essential to global military dominance, and to “fight and decisively win multiple, simultaneous major theater wars”. The situation in Iraq and Afghanistan today are great examples of the constabulary duties to which this document refers.
"perform the "constabulary" duties associated with shaping the security environment in critical regions;" - pg. iv
"None of the defense reviews of the past decade has weighed fully the range of missions demanded by U.S. global leadership: defending the homeland, fighting and winning multiple large-scale wars, conducting constabulary missions which preserve the current peace," - pg. 5
"A decade’s experience and the policies of two administrations have shown that such forces must be expanded to meet the needs of the new, long-term NATO mission in the Balkans, the continuing no-fly-zone and other missions in Southwest Asia, and other presence missions in vital regions of East Asia. These duties are today’s most frequent missions, requiring forces configured for combat but capable of long-term, independent constabulary operations." - pg. 6
"Thus, facing up to the realities of multiple constabulary missions will require a permanent allocation of U.S. armed forces." - pg. 10
"Further, these constabulary missions are far more complex and likely to generate violence than traditional "peacekeeping" missions." - pg 11
Iraq and Beyond:
"While the unresolved conflict with Iraq [first Gulf War’s no-fly zones] provides the immediate justification, the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein." - pg. 14
"Over the long term, Iran may well prove as large a threat to U.S. interests in the Gulf as Iraq has. And even should U.S.-Iranian relations improve, retaining forward-based forces in the region would still be an essential element in U.S. security strategy given the longstanding American interests in the region." - pg. 17
Catalyzing Event:
As always, their "revolution in military affairs" needed a pretext.
"Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event - like a new Pearl Harbor." - pg. 51
A year later they got it with the 9/11 attacks. These guys are so lucky, they just write a wish list and it always comes true, on cue. In the CFR thread I explain that the purpose of American hegemony is to unify the world under the dictates of the U.N for world government, so when they say the word "peace" in any speech or document, what they mean is absence of all true opposition to this emerging global government, in a global government, there can be no sovereign nations, so Iran as it stands has got to go.
