The new Klingons

There are some really scary people out there, and they are bent on dominating the world.

We are not talking about SPECTRE, or THRUSH, or even al Qaida. The first two terrorist organizations are fictional, coming from the creators of James Bond and The Man From U.N.C.L.E., respectively. The last is, of course, too real.

But they pale in comparison to the originators of the Project for the New American Century. These could easily be the people paying obeisance to the Smoking Man of the X-Files. Except these people are real. They are in the government today. The American government. They have the ear of the president of the United States -- some may even argue that they are the brains of the president of the United States. And make no mistake about it. They are bent on dominating the world.

You probably will recognize some of their names: Elliott Abrams, former Assistant Secretary of State and now special counselor to the president . . . Dick Cheney, vice president of the United States . . . I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, undersecretary of defense and candidate to become the new national security adviser . . . Donald Rumsfeld, secretary of defense . . . . Paul Wolfowitz, deputy secretary of defense. All hold positions of extreme power in government. There are others outside of official Washington who nonetheless command the ear of the president: Steve Forbes, Gary Bauer, Dan Quayle.

How do we know these people want to dominate the world? Because they told us so.

In 1997, they formed a group called the Project for the New American Century. Their goal, in their own words, mentioned, is

to promote American global leadership.

What could be wrong with that? Shouldn't America be the leader of the free world? As the PNAC signatories declare in their Statement of Principles,

[W]e cannot safely avoid the responsibilities of global leadership or the costs that are associated with its exercise. America has a vital role in maintaining peace and security in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. If we shirk our responsibilities, we invite challenges to our fundamental interests.

What would those "fundamental interests" be? In the introduction to a position paper, "Rebuilding America's Defenses," the authors note:

The United States is the world’s only superpower, combining preeminent military power, global technological leadership, and the world’s largest economy.

In other words, the United States dominates the world, militarily, technologically, and economically. And, the introduction further states,

America’s grand strategy should aim to preserve and extend this advantageous position as far into the future as possible.

Now, I know some of you are going to accuse me of playing semantics games with you. "You made it sound like you were saying these people are evil, bent on taking over the world, when all they are doing is seeking to maintain the U.S. position as global leader."

But there's more. As the report states,

America’s strategic goal used to be containment of the Soviet Union; today the task is to preserve an international security environment conducive to American interests and ideals. The military’s job during the Cold War was to deter Soviet expansionism. Today its task is to secure and expand the “zones of democratic peace;” to deter the rise of a new greatpower competitor; defend key regions of Europe, East Asia and the Middle East; and to preserve American preeminence through the coming transformation of war made possible by new technologies.

Those who call for participation by the U.S. in a global community clearly are not wanted in this organization. These people clearly represent the new Klingons, that race from the Star Trek series who saw themselves as the strongest and believed that thus, they should rule.

To that aim, the signatories of the PNAC's Statement of Principles pledged themselves to increasing defense spending to build up American forces to the extent that they would be unchallenged if America chose to take military action to defend the "zones of democratic peace." In April of 2000, seven months before the nation voted and eight before a divided Supreme Court declared George W. Bush president, Robert Kagan, a PNAC member in good standing, wrote in the Washington Post:

[I]f Bush simply waits for the next crisis before speaking out [on a larger, more belligerent military posture], he will look like a drive-by shooter.

Fortunately for the New Klingons, he didn't have to. A crisis fell into his lap. September 11. And that suited the New Klingons perfectly.

Next: Eyes on Iraq