Kristol is always I think someone to listen to because he is really a part of the administration.

What he is saying I think is that PNAC had and has great ideas but George Bush just didn't and doesn't know how to implement them.

He wants to make the point that it's not the ideas that failed in Iraq and everywhere, it's the execution.

The gist of it is, "it's not my fault."

I

He knows the verdict of history on the neocons is going to be harsh, and is attempting to deflect attention from his key role.

This is excellent. I actually read it in Orange first. But I like to respond in green :)

I always thought the confiscation of Scoop Jackson's papers was about the neocons in power, but whenever I tried to convince anyone in "real life" about that they just couldn't believe it.  They just would shake their head and wonder out loud why anyone would CARE what was in Scoop Jackson's papers in this day and age.  Since there was no answer that fit into their frame of the world they preferred to file it away as an unexplainable mystery.  

BooMan,

I think you're making a mistake by assuming the neocons raison d'etre is to push more defense spending. to me, their raison d'etre, (to the extent that such a goal can even be considered rational and coherent), is to, with the help of that increased "defense spending", establish hegemony over virtually all the vital resources on the planet and have dominion over other nations and peoples. Reading PNAC's seminal screed; [Rebuilding America's Defenses],(warning, large pdf file) clearly shapes this view, despite the attention the authors spent on the technical aspects of global supremacy.

In any case, the term "defense spending", when used by the PNAC gang is a misnomer, since in fact a huge portion of that spending is designed to be devoted to their "aggression against others", not to defense, despite the clever sophistry they employ to have us believe otherwise.

Also, I don't see Fukuyama's recent piece as a mea culpa at all. Quite the contrary. While he gives the appearance of repudiating the neocon ideology, in fact he is doing no such thing. Instead, he's done what Kristol did today; blaming others for the "incompetent" implementation of the neocon ideology upon not only Iraq but on the broader world at large.

And I think the reason the neocons are intensifying their propaganda along these lines now is because they know they're losing the iron grip they once had on the levers of power in this Bush regime. They are predatory narcissists to a man, (and woman), and as such they cannot and will not accept responsibility upon themselves for any failure. They will do anything and everything to defend the mythology that their own doctrine and purpose remains in a state of perfection. Just like Hitler blaming the German people for the failure of his insane quest for power; just like Pinochet, even now, still insisting the Chilean people owe him a debt of gratitude for his atrocities, the neocons cannot question the legitimacy of their delusional,insane ideology. And never could they allow a causal link to be perceived between their own dangerously flawed perceptions and the disasters that have resulted from the actions taken at their direction.

So the neocons now are ramping up their efforts to affix blame on others. From the beginning Bush, even though they made such effective use of his empty head and petulant imbecility, has always been the main fall guy for the neocons. It's his presidency, and in the end, as the heat grows, Kristol and his ilk will transfer  more and more blame, just like they're doing.

Watch for Rumsfeld to get axed soon, and Hadley perhaps. Bolton might even go. These have been unknowing scapegoats the neocons have had set up to take the blame since the beginning.

Denial is our most dangerous adversary.

Also available in orange.

Excellent diary. It'll take some time to work through all of this.

  I found this other article on defense spending and a complicated shell game that might be interesting.

The Generals, the Legislators and the Gulfstream VIP Transports
I'll keep it simple, but bear with me.

According to some of the Senate's "pork buster" senators, a defining characteristic of "pork" in defense bills is it's being added to appropriations bills when it is not "authorized." What they mean by this is that the House or Senate Appropriations Committees added the item to the Pentagon's budget request for DoD Appropriations legislation, but it was not included, "authorized," in the legislation that comes out each year from the House and Senate Armed services Committees (known and the National Defense Authorization bill). In other words, according to "pork buster" senators, such as Senator John McCain, R-Ariz., who is a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, it's "pork" if the appropriators add it to a defense bill, but it's not pork if it's added to the National Defense Authorization bill reported out by the House and Senate Armed Services Committee.

  Aren't the blackops approved through the appropriations process even if they're classified? How does the 'switcheroo' avoid proper accountability for program approval?

Well, as I have said before I believe there is a slight difference of priority between what I would call the old republican "power politicians" like Cheney and Rumsfeld and the intellectual neo-cons on the other.  Cheney and Rumsfeld are in it primarily for the power and money and basically belong to the Reagan school of the Republican Party, while there is something more to the intellectuals.  They are of a newer school in the Republican Party and more of a messianic/ideological group believing in a higher purpose of policy.  Kristol, Pearl and Wolfowitz are, in my opinion, more in it because they see a possibility of creating a so called "New Era" and a new "World Order" dominated and lead by the US alone.  The US uniqness in being the sole Superpower is to them a new dawn so to speak for America.  The power vacuum that was created by the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the ending of the Cold War had to be filled and the country destined for that role was the US, thus the PNAC think tank.  And the only real edge the US had over other rivals was their military strength and that is why it was vital to renew and reform it.  They had to actively push for a more dominant foreign policy spearheaded by military force and keep it that way in order to be in control and keep the edge over the other rivals on the international arena, if not, the US would soon loose their unique and dominant position in the world and the America could no longer control their destiny alone by forceful policies back up by their military power.  The military-industrial complex is just a means to an end for the neo-cons while Cheney and Rumsfeld, as old defence politicians, more identify with it.  The saw a commonality with the neo-con group in promoting the military as a foreign policy tool and thus found each other, primarily during the Reagan period, even though the neo-con intellectuals had nurtured close relation with military industrialists politicians like Scoop Jackson long before they got into behind the scenes positions in the Reagan administration.  

Both did see after a while that the policies of the Bush administration was still to much dominated by the the old real/power politicians Cheney and Rumsfeld and began to distance themselves from an taking an active part in the day-to-day policy implementations of the administration an the now the intellectuals are distancing themselves from the policies of the administration.  They are not in opposition to the policy itself but are more in disagreement over how the policy is implemented and handled by the old Real/Power politicians.  

Bitsofnews.com Giving you the latest bits.

The neocons backtracking is strong evidence of their growing vulnerability to connect with moderate Americans. This is our opportunity. We must firmly establish the true link between the conservative's failures on so many issues and the declining popularity of the Bush regime. Democrats with guts will start to stand up and say this loud and clear: The conservative movement has failed! Conservatives don't do what they say! people are catching onto the fraud!

there was a program on Saudi TV, a panel discussion of "intellectuals," an unusual occurrence, but the princes are not particularly intellectual, so probably didn't pay much attention when they were asked if it could take place.

Anyway, several on the panel expressed the view that the real conflict that was taking place was not really east and west at all, but a struggle between US companies - those who were "defense" oriented, and those who were not.

We hear a lot about US transitioning to a service economy, but we don't hear too much, and some may not notice, the transition to a single industry economy. The Saudi "intellectuals" were only partially right. Most American non-defense companies will not go to war, they will simply transition their field of operation from consumer products to defense-related goods and services.

Non-defense companies are merging and re-merging themselves down into entities that will soon require a coca-cola style exemption to the anti-trust laws, or maybe just repeal those, since they are not really in tune with how America does business today.

Wal-Mart is the most obvious example, and will soon be taking care of virtually all civilian consumer needs, from pharmacy to groceries.

Banks, too are merging down, though Wal-Mart is said to have an interest in expanding to cover that sector as well, so the two or three big banks can merge into one to handle corporate needs, while Wal-Mart covers the consumer and residual small business market.

As the population is reduced through programs like Medicare D(eath) and the phasing out of the vestigial and token "social programs" US still has, and more Americans are downwardly mobilized, need for a large business sector to handle consumer needs will show a commensurate decrease.

Some may be able to find employment in the growing "defense" sector, while most actual manufacturing will take place outside the US until wage parity is attained, there may be some clerical jobs available "stateside," and remember that "defense" also covers the fast growing "prison-industrial complex," which involves many jobs that cannot be outsourced, so while the number of Americans at large (currently 142 of 143, I think) is reduced, in order to ensure that they generate a revenue stream, they will have to be fed (sort of) and watered (minimally) and guarded (24 and 7).

Continuing construction of new facilities will also mean jobs, though wages will continue to trend downward, toward to goal of parity with Asia, and of course the expanding crusades themselves will continue to offer employment opportunities to aspiring expendables.

one man's conspiracy is another man's business plan
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