Liberal Hawks Ally w/PNAC-Neocons & Liberals Together Again

The neoconservative Project for the New American Century (PNAC) has signaled its intention to continue shaping the government’s national security strategy with a new public letter stating that the “U.S. military is too small for the responsibilities we are asking it to assume.” Rather than reining in the imperial scope of U.S. national security strategy as set forth by the first Bush administration, PNAC and the letter’s signatories call for increasing the size of America’s global fighting machine.

The January 28th PNAC letter advocates that House and Senate leaders take the necessary steps “to increase substantially the size of the active duty Army and Marine Corps.”

Joining the neocons in the letter to congressional leaders were a group of prominent liberals—giving some credence to PNAC’s claim that the “call to act” to increase the total number of U.S. ground forces counts on bipartisan support.

After an initial spate of public pronouncements after September 11th and during the onset of the Iraq occupation, the Project for the New American Century is again positioning itself as the policy institute that will set the second Bush administration’s security agenda. Although PNAC’s 1997 statement of principles included only prominent right-wing figures—many of whom later joined the first Bush administration—the neocon policy institute has repeatedly reached out to liberals to give its public letters to the Congress and the president the gloss of bipartisanship.

Its new call for congressional leaders to increase overall U.S. troop levels includes endorsement of key liberal analysts. Among the signatories are the leading foreign policy analysts at the Brookings Institution and the Progressive Policy Institute, which are closely associated with the Democratic Party. The endorsees of the letter are largely neoconservatives who are principals in such neocon-led institutes as PNAC, American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, and the Center for Security Policy. However, this call for a larger expeditionary force was also signed by prominent liberal hawks, including Michael O’Hanlon, Ivo Daalder, James Steinberg, and Will Marshall—all of whom have signed previous PNAC letters and policy statements.

The liberal hawks not only joined with the neocons to support the war and the post-war restructuring but have published their own statements in favor of what is now widely regarded as a morally bankrupt policy agenda. Perhaps the clearest articulation of the liberal hawk position on foreign and military policy is found in an October 2003 report by the Progressive Policy Institute, which is a think tank closely associated with the Democratic Leadership Council. The report, entitled Progressive Internationalism: A Democratic National Security Strategy, endorsed the invasion of Iraq, “because the previous policy of containment was failing,” and Saddam Hussein’s government was “undermining both collective security and international law.”

PPI President Will Marshall said that the progressive internationalism strategy draws “a sharp distinction between this mainstream Democratic strategy for national security and the far left’s vision of America’s role in the world. In this document we take issue with those who begrudge the kind of defense spending that we think is necessary to meet our needs, both at home and abroad; with folks who seem to reflexively oppose the use of force; and who seem incapable of taking America’s side in international disputes.” Among the other liberal hawks who contributed to the Progressive Internationalism report were Bob Kerrey; Larry Diamond of the Hoover Institution and the National Endowment for Democracy; and Michael McFaul of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The repeated willingness of influential liberal leaders and foreign policy analysts, such as Marshall, O’Hanlon, and Daalder, to join forces with the neoconservative camp has bolstered PNAC’s claim that its foreign policy agenda is neither militarist nor imperialist but one that is based on a deep respect for human rights, democracy, and universal moral values. Other liberal hawks signing the recent PNAC letter include New Republic editor Peter Beinart; Steven Nider, director of security studies at the Progressive Policy Institute; James Steinberg, director of Brooking’s foreign policy studies program and former director of the State Department’s Policy Planning office during the Clinton administration; Craig Kennedy, president of the German Marshall Fund and former program officer at the Joyce Foundation; and Michelle Flournoy, a self-described “pro-defense Democrat” who is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group and served in the Clinton administration in the DOD’s strategy secretariat. Having Yale historian Paul Kennedy, the author of The Rise and Fall of Great Powers, sign the new letter was a major coup for PNAC.
/rightweb.irc-online.org/analysis/2005/0502ally.php

Although PNAC’s 1997 statement of principles included only prominent right-wing figures—many of whom later joined the first Bush administration—the neocon policy institute has repeatedly reached out to liberals to give its public letters to the Congress and the president the gloss of bipartisanship.

What does this "reaching out" entail?

And there is quite a bit of distance between liberal interventionism and PNAC, if you'd care to look for it. Really PNAC are interventionist wanna-bes, or I should say they act like interventionists by cloaking some of their goals in liberal foreign policy rhetoric.

to provide the cover that their mission is 'bipartisan'--so, therefore they are not the far right wing as has been claimed by many. Good strategy (to my chargin)!!

Reaching out to those they can touch at a moment's notice...

There are plenty of supposed Liberals at Brookings Institute and the Progressive Policy Institute who will sign PNAC letters when needed. They did it for Kosovo, Iraq, Russia and the draft. They'll do it for Iran too. They are why you sit back APPALLED as people like Rice and Gonzalez are ushered in on a red carpet.

I wanted to write a more comprehensive post but it's too difficult to do in a few minutes and certainly not on a Friday night. I got tired writing this. Hope others will chip in...


SO many Democrats have collaborated with PNAC. Michael O’Hanlon, Ivo Daalder, James Steinberg, and Will Marshall are just a few. The institions they hide behind are many. When you hear of a "Democrat" with any "Liberation committee"- RUN. This applies to Kosovo/Bosnia, Iraq, Iran, former (?) Russian Republics- always look at the other names on those committees and you'll have your answer on what this "reaching out" entails.



From the article:

The recent PNAC letter to Congress was not the first time that PNAC or its associated front groups, such as the Coalition for the Liberation of Iraq, have included hawkish Democrats.

The COMMITTEE FOR THE LIBERATION OF IRAQ (CLI) was a bipartisan group that Bush formed to drum up support for his war. It was chaired by former Lockheed Martin founder Bruce Jackson and includes these people"

• Al-Bassam, Mahdi, M.D. Iraqi National Congress, Iraq Foundation, Iraq Liberation Action Committee
  
  
• Blechman, Barry, Dr. President, Defense Forecasts International (DFI) Senior Advisor to DoD, sits on Defense Policy Board Brookings Institute, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Henry L. Stimson Center
  
  
• Cohen, Eliot, Dr. served on planning staff of Secretary of Defense, directed US Air Force Gulf War, Director of Strategic Studies Program, Johns Hopkins (SAIS), Johns Hopkins School of Advanced Interantional Studies (SAIS), US Naval War College, Harvard Contributing editor to New Republic and National Review ((former Democrat turned Republican))
  
  
• Davis, Jacqueline, Dr. President, National Security Planning Associates, Inc. Chaired Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services (DACOWITS), sits on Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel (CEP) Council on Foreign Relations, Exec. VP, Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis
  
  
• Dine, Thomas A. (R) Reagan Administration alumnis Former President of the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), President, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
  
  
• Downing, Wayne, Gen. (fmr) retired four star general, Gulf War Veteran, former National Security Advisor for Combatting Terrorism.
  
  
• Finley, Julie US Committee on NATO (founder) (R) former DC Party Chair National Endowment for Democracy, American Academy in Berlin Project on Transitional Democracies Vassar College graduate Has worked for NBC, ABC News and the Washington Post.
  
  
• Francke, Rend Rahim Executive Director, Iraq Foundation
  
  
• Galbraith, Peter W. First US Ambassador to Croatia, involved in negotiations to settle Bosnia conflict. Prof. National Security Studies, National War College Produced 1992 ABC documentary on the gassing of the Kurds
  
  
• Gingrich, Newt CEO, The Gingrich Group. member, Defense Policy Board, served on Commission on National Security/21st Century (R) Former Speaker of the House, former GOPAC President Council on Foreign Relations Tulane Graduate, National Defense University, Johns Hopkins, Stanford political analyst for Fox News
  
  
• Glosson, Buster, Lt. Gen. (fmr) Chairman and CEO, Eagle, Ltd. One star Air Force General, directed 1991 bombing of Iraq
  
  
• Hoffa, James P. President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters
  
  
• Jackson, Bruce
  Lockheed Martin US Committee on NATO,former Secretary of Defense Official (R) Pentagon official during Reagan Administration, Dole Campaign Co-Chair, Republican Platform Committee Director, Project for the New American Century, Member, Council on Foreign Relations, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Cambridge University, Lehman Brothers investment bank
  
  
• Jackson, Howell Advisor to World Bank and IMF Prof of Law, Harvard Law School
  
  
• Kagan, Robert Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Co-founder, Project for the New American Century Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Harvard graduate, Yale graduate Washington Post columnist, Contributing Editor to the Weekly Standard.
  
  
• Kerrey, Robert (D) former Governor and Senator of Nebraska, President, New School University
  
  
• Kirkpatrick, Jeanne J. former US Ambassador to the UN (R) Reagan Administration Alumnis, formerly a Democrat Senior Fellow, American Enterprises Institute, Member, Council on Foreign Relations, Founder, Empower America Georgetown University
  
  
• Kristol, William (R) former chair of Project for the Republican Future, Co-founder, Project for the New American Century Enron Advisory Board Editor and founder, Weekly Standard, former ABC TV Commentator Bradley Foundation ((Great friend and co-worker of Marshall Wittman now a Sr Fellow and Spokesman for both the DLC & PPI)) ((Another Democrat turned... neoCon))
  
  
• Lewis, Bernard, Dr. Prof Emeritus, Princeton, formerly with School of Oriental and African Studies in Britain Phoenix House Foundation ((former(?) Democrat, adviser to another hawkish Democrat, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, co-father of PNACers along with Scoop Jackson))
  
  
• Lieberman, Joseph (D) Al Gore's running mate and current presidential contender
  
  
• McCaffrey, Barry, Gen. (fmr) Raytheon Aerospace, BR McCaffrey Associates LLC, Integrated Defense Technologies, Mitre Tek Systems retired four star general, Vietnam Vet, Gulf War Vet the Atlantic Council Drug Abuse Sciences, the Council on Excellence, eGetgoing.com
  
  
• Marshall, Will (D) Democratic Leadership Council President, Progressive Policy Institute
  
  
• McCain, John
  
  
• Muravchik, Josh American Enterprises Institute ((another Scoop Jackson "Social Democrat"))
  
  
• Perle, Richard Former Assistant Secretary of Defense under Reagan (R) Regan Administration Alumnis American Enterprises Institute CEO, Holinger Digital, owning the Chicago Sun Times and The Daily Telegraph ((former Scoop Jackson "Social Democrat"))
  
  
• Pletka, Danielle VP, American Enterprises Institute, graduate, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced Interantional Studies (SAIS) LA Times, Reuters
  
  
• Scheunemann, Randy former Consultant to Office of Secretary of Defense, US Committee on NATO (R) McCain campaign advisor 2000 Project for the New American Century Iraqi National Congress
  
  
• Schmitt, Gary former White House Intelligence Officer (R) Regan Administration Alumnis Chair, Project for a New American Century, Brookings Institution Adj prof, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced Interantional Studies (SAIS), grad, U of Dallas, U of Chicago
  
  
• Schultz, George P. Bechtel Corporation, board member and former President former Secretary of State under Reagan, DoD Consultant (R) Regan Administration Alumnis Charles Schwabb & Co., J.P. Morgan Chase
  
  
• Schultz, Richard consultant to many Defense offices, including DoD, Assistant Secretary of Defense, etc.
  Prof Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, US Military Academy, prof at US Military Academy, fellow, US Naval War College, US Marine Corps U.
  
  
• Solarz, Steve President, Solarz Associates International Crisis Group George Washington University
  
  
• Wedgwood, Ruth taught law at US Naval War College Council on Foreign Relations Prof Johns Hopkins SAIS, US Naval War College, Yale
  
  
• Wieseltier, Leon Editor, New Republic Harvard, Columbia U, Oxford U Editor, New Republic
  
  
• Williams, Chris Partner, Johnston and Associates DoD Defense Policy Board (R) Served as Acting Undersecretary of Defense under Rumsfeld Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Potomac Institute Stanford University, The Smithsonian Institution,
  
  
• Woolsey, James R. VP, Booz Allen Hamilton, The Aerospace Corporation fomer CIA Director, Rumsfeld Commission, Packard Commission, Scowcroft Commission (R) Reagan Administration Alumnis trustee, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)

Frank Gaffney... Scoop Jackson
((former Democrat turned Republican))



And then of course we have the top 3... Former Democrats, all Scoop Jackson that decent Republicans HATE as much as we do. Mind you, they're still registered Democrats.

Paul Wolfowitz

The most visible neocon in Washington, whose power transcends his modest title of deputy secretary of defence. Like almost all neocons, he is a former Democrat, combining a liberal sense of mission to spread democratic ideas with a traditional conservative readiness to use military force. But he is now at loggerheads with the "paleocons" about how long to stay in Iraq

Richard Perle

Wolfowitz's mentor and veteran cold warrior from the Reagan administration, where he was known as the "prince of darkness". Like many a neocon, he began his career working for the hawkish Democratic senator Henry "Scoop" Jackson before defecting to the Republicans. Forced to step down as chairman of the defence policy board in March after his many business connections raised questions of conflict of interest

Douglas Feith

Another veteran Scoop Jackson Democrat, Feith stands out for his close ties with Israel's Likud party. His former law company had offices in Washington and Tel Aviv, and when he became undersecretary of defence for policy, overseeing the office of special plans and its search for damning "intelligence" on Iraq, he remained open to input from Sharon government. Seen as the neocon most likely to fall if things turn from bad to worse in Iraq

http://www.timbuk3.com/sep03.htm

Sheesh... And that just over the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq! There is so much, are so many more...

Of course, there are those who simply do not understand that they are being used as others' rugs to walk all over or bows to shoot others' arrows. They are the "eyes wide shut" types and, incredible as it may seem, they are incredibly gullible.

It makes me *LOL* that Wolfowitz, Perle and Feith are still registered Democrats!!! They are the perfect example of why we should never into the trap of judging an entire group/class/party based upon a few of its screwy members.

Maybe, we should start a list of those faux "liberals", "progressives" & Democrats to focus our protests and/or more negative energies while ensuring that we support those who have taken a courageous stand for "the people".

Hey, Tinoire,...thank you so much for all your hard work!!!!

We will all end up starving to support this mania until we get rescued by some foreign power.

But Bob Kerrey really ring a bell. His work on the Warren(oop)9/11 commission made him look like an obvious ally for the neocons coverup.

Peter Beinart has tried to act liberal, but his words are always mostly the other way.

They can put as much lipstick on the PNAC Pig as they want. It is still the thing that has assured America's climax and fall. The more that sell their souls to the devil only make it harder for the rest of us "normal folks".

Dirty bassturds. AEI being about the worst. Danielle Pletka :puke: