In 1999, a think tank in Washington DC, peopled by neocons and backed by corporate donors, released a document entitled The Project for a New American Century (PNAC). This was a blue print for America’s presidents for carrying out foreign policy initiatives. Its objective was world domination by the United States that would be achieved through a permanent state of war. The Middle East, identified as the first phase in this enterprise, was to be followed by taking down Russia and then China. Seven countries were listed as the initial targets — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Sudan and Somalia. The timeline was seven countries in five years.
Some of the better-known individuals who were involved in PNAC were Elliott Abrams and his parents, Midge Decter and Norman Podhoretz, Jeb Bush, Dick Cheney, Dan Quayle, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Francis Fukuyama, Steve Forbes, and Scooter Libby. John Bolton joined later on, I believe. Robert Kagan was a co-founder and achieved fame as the husband of Victoria Nuland, an Assistant Secretary of State, who was caught on her cellphone plotting a coup against the government of Ukraine with our ambassador to the Ukraine, Gregory Pyatt.
Whether it was the execution of the plan or the plan itself that was at fault, things have not gone well. In spite of this, Iran appears to be next on the docket. Why Iran?
There are many factors to take into account in answering this question. For some of the hawks, Iran needs to be paid back for the 1979 ousting of the Shah whom we installed after physically removing Mohammed Mossadegh from office in a 1953 coup état.
John Bolton, now Trump’s National Security Advisor, has pushed for a war against Iran for years. He is now in a position to see that it happens. (Bolton who probably should be in a strait jacket doesn’t need a reason for wanting to bomb Iran or any other country)
Iran is the largest country in the Middle East. It now has a strong economy and is seen because of this as a threat to the dominance of Israel and Saudi Arabia in the region. Netanyahu has publicly taken credit for persuading Trump to withdraw from the multi-country nuclear deal. Even though the US is no longer observing its commitment, Iran has been following what it agreed to do. Now it is being punished for doing so via the US sanctions. Netanyahu also claimed credit for getting the US to label the Iranian army as a terrorist group.
John Kerry has said that every time he contacted the Saudis they advocated attacking Iran.
The PNAC blue print is still in favor at the White House even though it has a new occupant. The role that Iran played in assisting Russia and Turkey in the fight to defeat the forces that invaded Syria cannot be overlooked.
Mary L. Wentworth Co-Founder of Behind the Scenes