Finally finished the book, A Pretext For War by James Bamford. Lots of interesting and disturbing information.
One item I found telling was the agenda for the first senior level national security council meeting on January 30, 2001. Three items on the agenda:
1. Get rid of Saddam Hussein
2. End American involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process
3. Rearrange the dominoes in the Middle East.
The key to the policy shift would be a concept of preemption.
Joe
Intent
Moderator: CHGPA BOD
Intent
Joe,
When the Harvard national security studies brain trust came in with the first Clinton administration (Ashton Carter as an assistant Secretary of Defense), they had identified counter-proliferation as important - more important than preparing for a notional war with China (Rumsfeld's idea). So it was all about cleaning up loose nukes (helping the Russians secure their stockpile) and fissile material (BUYING it from them and blending it down to reactor fuel - the Nunn-Lugar program, which has since been underfunded). But the last chapter of Carter's book was about "what if counter-proliferation fails?" - and the answer was pre-emption. Too bad Bush has given pre-emption a bad name... - Hugh
>From: Joe Schad <jgs1942@shentel.net>
>Date: Sat Nov 26 18:44:19 CST 2005
>To: ot_forum@chgpa.org
>Subject: Intent
>
>Finally finished the book, A Pretext For War by James Bamford. Lots of interesting and disturbing information.
>
>One item I found telling was the agenda for the first senior level national security council meeting on January 30, 2001. Three items on the agenda:
>
>1. Get rid of Saddam Hussein
>2. End American involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process
>3. Rearrange the dominoes in the Middle East.
> The key to the policy shift would be a concept of preemption.
>
>Joe
When the Harvard national security studies brain trust came in with the first Clinton administration (Ashton Carter as an assistant Secretary of Defense), they had identified counter-proliferation as important - more important than preparing for a notional war with China (Rumsfeld's idea). So it was all about cleaning up loose nukes (helping the Russians secure their stockpile) and fissile material (BUYING it from them and blending it down to reactor fuel - the Nunn-Lugar program, which has since been underfunded). But the last chapter of Carter's book was about "what if counter-proliferation fails?" - and the answer was pre-emption. Too bad Bush has given pre-emption a bad name... - Hugh
>From: Joe Schad <jgs1942@shentel.net>
>Date: Sat Nov 26 18:44:19 CST 2005
>To: ot_forum@chgpa.org
>Subject: Intent
>
>Finally finished the book, A Pretext For War by James Bamford. Lots of interesting and disturbing information.
>
>One item I found telling was the agenda for the first senior level national security council meeting on January 30, 2001. Three items on the agenda:
>
>1. Get rid of Saddam Hussein
>2. End American involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process
>3. Rearrange the dominoes in the Middle East.
> The key to the policy shift would be a concept of preemption.
>
>Joe