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Project For The New American Century ^ | Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, R. James Woolsey, Richard Perle to name but a few...

Posted on 10/21/2001 2:00:02 PM PDT by maquiladora

NOTE: This is an open letter, written about 3 years ago to the then President Clinton by leading members of the influential strategic think-tank, Project For The New American Century, who's leading members are the now Defence Sectreary Rumsfeld and Deputy DefSec Wolfowitz.
Numerous other 'big hitters' also in the PftNAC such as James Woolsey and Richard Perle contributed. See the full list of signatures at the end.
The letter deals with how these men(now in very important Governmental positions) believe we should deal with Iraq.
I think you'll find it very intersting to say the least....

January 26, 1998

The Honorable William J. Clinton

President of the United States

Washington, DC

Dear Mr. President:

We are writing you because we are convinced that current American policy toward Iraq is not succeeding, and that we may soon face a threat in the Middle East more serious than any we have known since the end of the Cold War. In your upcoming State of the Union Address, you have an opportunity to chart a clear and determined course for meeting this threat. We urge you to seize that opportunity, and to enunciate a new strategy that would secure the interests of the U.S. and our friends and allies around the world. That strategy should aim, above all, at the removal of Saddam Hussein’s regime from power. We stand ready to offer our full support in this difficult but necessary endeavor.

The policy of “containment” of Saddam Hussein has been steadily eroding over the past several months. As recent events have demonstrated, we can no longer depend on our partners in the Gulf War coalition to continue to uphold the sanctions or to punish Saddam when he blocks or evades UN inspections. Our ability to ensure that Saddam Hussein is not producing weapons of mass destruction, therefore, has substantially diminished. Even if full inspections were eventually to resume, which now seems highly unlikely, experience has shown that it is difficult if not impossible to monitor Iraq’s chemical and biological weapons production. The lengthy period during which the inspectors will have been unable to enter many Iraqi facilities has made it even less likely that they will be able to uncover all of Saddam’s secrets. As a result, in the not-too-distant future we will be unable to determine with any reasonable level of confidence whether Iraq does or does not possess such weapons.

Such uncertainty will, by itself, have a seriously destabilizing effect on the entire Middle East. It hardly needs to be added that if Saddam does acquire the capability to deliver weapons of mass destruction, as he is almost certain to do if we continue along the present course, the safety of American troops in the region, of our friends and allies like Israel and the moderate Arab states, and a significant portion of the world’s supply of oil will all be put at hazard. As you have rightly declared, Mr. President, the security of the world in the first part of the 21st century will be determined largely by how we handle this threat. Given the magnitude of the threat, the current policy, which depends for its success upon the steadfastness of our coalition partners and upon the cooperation of Saddam Hussein, is dangerously inadequate. The only acceptable strategy is one that eliminates the possibility that Iraq will be able to use or threaten to use weapons of mass destruction. In the near term, this means a willingness to undertake military action as diplomacy is clearly failing. In the long term, it means removing Saddam Hussein and his regime from power. That now needs to become the aim of American foreign policy.

We urge you to articulate this aim, and to turn your Administration’s attention to implementing a strategy for removing Saddam’s regime from power. This will require a full complement of diplomatic, political and military efforts. Although we are fully aware of the dangers and difficulties in implementing this policy, we believe the dangers of failing to do so are far greater. We believe the U.S. has the authority under existing UN resolutions to take the necessary steps, including military steps, to protect our vital interests in the Gulf. In any case, American policy cannot continue to be crippled by a misguided insistence on unanimity in the UN Security Council.

We urge you to act decisively. If you act now to end the threat of weapons of mass destruction against the U.S. or its allies, you will be acting in the most fundamental national security interests of the country. If we accept a course of weakness and drift, we put our interests and our future at risk.

Sincerely, Elliott Abrams Richard L. Armitage William J. Bennett Jeffrey Bergner John Bolton Paula Dobriansky Francis Fukuyama Robert Kagan Zalmay Khalilzad William Kristol Richard Perle Peter W. Rodman Donald Rumsfeld William Schneider, Jr. Vin Weber Paul Wolfowitz R. James Woolsey Robert B. Zoellick


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events
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1 posted on 10/21/2001 2:00:02 PM PDT by maquiladora
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To: maquiladora; Snow Bunny; GOPJ; father_elijah; elenchus; ThreadKiller; WIMom; Silly; CheneyChick...
Very timely. For more, click this...


2 posted on 10/21/2001 2:06:48 PM PDT by Sabertooth
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To: maquiladora
bump
3 posted on 10/21/2001 2:07:45 PM PDT by Free the USA
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Comment #4 Removed by Moderator

To: maquiladora
Oh the irony... rest assured, the right people are know just what kind of a threat Saddam is. Reminds me a lot of what happened with Iran when Reagan began his presidency. Maybe Saddam knows that he is messing with the wrong Texas Bull. We shall see... But I don't think GWB is gonna tak any crap from this guy.
5 posted on 10/21/2001 2:10:29 PM PDT by rintense
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To: maquiladora
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

This is from their website, a newer statement, written after the Sept 11th attacks....(keep in mind that these are the views of a body of influential people, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz):

September 20, 2001
...But even if evidence does not link Iraq directly to the attack, any strategy aiming at the eradication of terrorism and its sponsors must include a determined effort to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. Failure to undertake such an effort will constitute an early and perhaps decisive surrender in the war on international terrorism. The United States must therefore provide full military and financial support to the Iraqi opposition. American military force should be used to provide a “safe zone” in Iraq from which the opposition can operate. And American forces must be prepared to back up our commitment to the Iraqi opposition by all necessary means....

This should put aside any fears than Iraq won't be attacked. It will, I'm 100% sure.

6 posted on 10/21/2001 2:17:49 PM PDT by maquiladora
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To: rintense
bump
7 posted on 10/21/2001 2:18:18 PM PDT by Alas
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To: Sabertooth
We urge you to act decisively. If you act now to end the threat of weapons of mass destruction against the U.S. or its allies, you will be acting in the most fundamental national security interests of the country. If we accept a course of weakness and drift, we put our interests and our future at risk.

Right on! Clinton did nothing to deter these terrorists.

8 posted on 10/21/2001 2:38:04 PM PDT by Victoria Delsoul
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To: Sabertooth
Thanks for the ping.

We have Clinton to thank for the mess he made of everything. He should be on America's Most Wanted List along with Osama and Saddam and the rest of the enemies of America.

9 posted on 10/21/2001 2:57:10 PM PDT by Snow Bunny
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To: Victoria Delsoul
"Clinton did nothing to deter these terrorists."

Great minds think alike.

In fact, I think you're being charitable.

10 posted on 10/21/2001 2:57:56 PM PDT by Sabertooth
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To: Victoria Delsoul
Clinton did nothing to deter these terrorists.

Nonsense. I'm sure that, upon receiving this strongly worded urgent material, clintoon demonstrated his alpha maleness by groping a female staffer at the next opportunity.

11 posted on 10/21/2001 3:02:49 PM PDT by hauerf
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To: maquiladora
...written about 3 years ago to the then President Clinton by leading members of the influential strategic think-tank, Project For The New American Century..

A Think Tank?? Get serious. If they had been thinking, they would have known that Clinton didn't care.

12 posted on 10/21/2001 3:03:05 PM PDT by aimhigh
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To: hauerf
LOL!
13 posted on 10/21/2001 3:03:55 PM PDT by Victoria Delsoul
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To: Sabertooth; maquiladora

14 posted on 10/21/2001 3:17:03 PM PDT by Snow Bunny
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To: Snow Bunny
And let's not let his co-president off the hook either.
15 posted on 10/21/2001 3:53:17 PM PDT by OldFriend
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To: maquiladora; Sabertooth; Pete-R-Bilt
This should put aside any fears than Iraq won't be attacked. It will, I'm 100% sure.

here’s hoping you’re correct (tip of the miller can, and stetson).

the grown-ups are back. hope it goes well. Sabertooth, thanks for the ping. maquiladora, thanks for the post.

shoot straigh. shoot safe. practice. carry.

16 posted on 10/21/2001 3:59:41 PM PDT by glock rocks
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To: OldFriend
Your right ! The two of them and throw in HITlery too.
17 posted on 10/21/2001 4:05:05 PM PDT by Snow Bunny
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To: Snow Bunny
Bump all of this!
18 posted on 10/21/2001 4:11:00 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache
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To: Askel5
Rumsfeld. There's that name again.
19 posted on 10/21/2001 4:13:50 PM PDT by nunya bidness
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To: maquiladora
Bump for later reading.
20 posted on 10/21/2001 5:31:03 PM PDT by Budge
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