The Power Behind The Bush Administration

What do Dick Cheney, Richard Armitage, Eliot A. Cohen, Richard Perle, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and Robert B. Zoellick all have in common, other than having held high positions in the Bush administration? All are members of the “Project for the New American Century”, a neo-conservative think-tank based out of Washington, D.C.

www.newamericancentury.org...
en.wikipedia.org...

The PNAC, which calls for “a Reaganite policy of military strength and moral clarity”, promotes the idea of an American based global leadership, and strives to create the blueprint that the rest of the world would follow.

"Having led the West to victory in the Cold War, America faces an opportunity and a challenge.
"Does the United States have the vision to build upon the achievement of past decades?
"Does the United States have the resolve to shape a new century favourable to American principles and interests?
"[What we require] is a military that is strong... a foreign policy that boldly and purposefully promotes American interests... and a national leadership that accepts the United States' global responsibility."

In a report written by the PNAC and published on their website, entitled “Rebuilding American’s Defenses”, we find the need for a “revolution” in military affairs. In their own words:

Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some
catastrophic and catalyzing event ­ like a new Pearl Harbor.

www.newamericancentury.org...

The PNAC was founded by William Kristol and Robert Kagan in 1997. Kagan, who would be the foreign policy advisor to John McCain during the 2008 elections, serves as a member on the Council of Foreign Relations.

en.wikipedia.org...

Another one of McCain’s foreign policy advisors was Bruce P. Jackson, who was also a member of the PNAC. He also held a high ranking administrative spot at Lockheed Martin, served as a Military Intelligence Officer in the US Army, worked for Lehman Brothers as a strategist, and worked with nuclear weapons and arms control for the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Like Kagan, he is a member of the CFR. His other organizations includes the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, which will be mentioned shortly.

en.wikipedia.org...

PNAC counts in its directors Reuel Marc Gerecht, a former Middle East specialist for the CIA. He is also a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy, and a former resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

en.wikipedia.org...

The American Enterprise Institute is another neoconservative think tank founded in 1943. Like it’s partner, the PNAC, it promotes a globalized ideal:

AEI's Program on International Economics encompasses international trade, globalization, and international financial and regulatory bodies (such as the World Trade Organization, World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund). Scholars in the Program on International Economics, including Claude Barfield, Philip I. Levy, Desmond Lachman, and Allan H. Meltzer, strongly favor free trade.[22] Much of AEI's recent work on trade focuses on the Doha Development Round and why it has failed to gain traction.[23]. The AEI Press has published several volumes on trade in services negotiations.

en.wikipedia.org...

Political Friendster’s page on the AEI reveals that many of the PNAC members are also members of this group, including Dick Cheny, Richard Perle, William Kristol, Eliot A. Cohen, and Michael Ledeen. George W. Bush is also a member of this organization.

www.politicalfriendster.com...

The AEI also collects membership from big business. Edward Rust (CEO of State Farm), Raymond Gilmartinn (CEO of Merck), Christopher Galvin (CEO of Motorola), and Harvey Golub (CEO of American Express) are all members. Another important member is Daniel D’Aniello, listed by Forbes as one of the 400 richest Americans, and co-founder of the Carlyle Group.

www.forbes.com...

Carlyle is the infamous global private equity firm whose membership includes George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, James Baker III (staff member to both father and son Bush), and Shafig Bin Laden (brother to Osama Bin Laden).

A Carlyle executive said the bin Laden family committed $2 million through a London investment arm in Carlyle Partners II Fund, which raised $ 1.3 billion overall. The fund has purchased several aerospace companies among 29 deals. So far, the family received $1.3. million back in completed investments and should ultimately realize a 40% annualized rate of return, the Carlyle executive said.

But a foreign financier with ties to the bin Laden family says the family's overall investment with Carlyle is considerably larger. He called the $2 million merely an initial contribution. "It's like plowing a field," this person said. "You seed it once. You plow it, and then you reseed it again."

A U.S. inquiry into bin Laden family business dealings could brush against some big names associated with the U.S. government. Former President Bush said through his chief of staff, Jean Becker, that he recalled only one meeting with the bin Laden family, which took place in November 1998. Ms. Becker confirmed that there was a second meeting in January 2000, after being read the ex-president's subsequent thank-you note. "President Bush does not have a relationship with the bin Laden family," says Ms. Becker. "He's met them twice."

www.uni-muenster.de...

(continued below)

How much money did Carlyle make off the war in Iraq?

Though Carlyle itself has won no contracts, the companies it has owned or controlled have done billions of dollars worth of business with the Pentagon. The Carlyle unit that brought in the largest share—$5.8 billion—was United Defense Inc., which manufactures combat vehicles, artillery, naval guns, missile launchers and precision munitions. United Defense also owns the country's largest non-nuclear ship repair, modernization, overhaul and conversion company, United States Marine Repair Inc. Its most famous product may well be the Bradley fighting vehicle. United Defense brought in more than 60 percent of Carlyle's defense business.

Carlyle took United Defense public in 2001; by April 2004 it had sold all its shares in the company.

lists.resist.ca...

United Defense has the widest product line of systems for land forces and a strong position in naval armaments. UDI, headquartered in Arlington, Va., is a leading US defense company which generated annual sales in 2004 of $2,292 million. It designs, develops and produces combat vehicles, artillery systems, naval guns, missile launchers and precision munitions, used by the U.S. Department of Defense and allies worldwide, and provides non-nuclear ship repair, modernization and conversion to the U.S. Navy and other U.S. Government agencies. UDI employs approximately 8,000 people in 25 locations in the U.S. and Sweden.

www.globalsecurity.org...

United Defense could be the definition of the Military Industrial Complex.

More on Carlyle:

From its founding in 1987, the Carlyle Group has pioneered investing in the defense and national security markets, and through its takeover of companies with billions of dollars in defense contracts became one of the U.S. military's top vendors, ranking among better known defense firms like Lockheed Martin, Boeing Co., Raytheon Co., Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics.

As mentioned earlier, PNAC member/CFR member/Lehman brothers employee/ex military intelligence officer/Lockheed strategist Bruce Jackson was also a member of the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq. A quick glance at Political Friendster reveals that the CLI’s membership includes Robert Kagan, Eliot A. Cohen, William Kristol, Richard Perle, and Joe Lierberman. All are members of the PNAC as well. Another member of the CLI is John McCain, whose foreign policy team was full of PNAC members.

In conclusion, what do we have? A circle of neoconservative think tanks, which seem to have an ‘inner circle’ of individuals who operate in each group. These groups, which exerted an incredible influence on the Bush administration, promote a globalized American ideal, but in reality, are profiting off an unjust war in the Middle East. The Carlyle Group is an excellent example of this. The notorious Council on Foreign Relations seems to lurk around in the background of this the whole time.

What do you guys think?