Pletka’s PNAC Conspiracy Theory

The great dismissive of our times is the term “conspiracy theory.”

It closes off debate. It paints anyone who doesn’t buy the propaganda, questions the anomalies of official cover stories…anyone who connects the unconnected dots…as crazy, paranoid cranks cavorting with Oliver Stone on the grassy knoll of history.

Enter Danielle Pletka. As VP of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies for the Neo-Convicted American Enterprise Institute, she’s a high-level propaganda hack for American empire. Moments ago she drew the conspiracy theory sword and cut off the truth at the knees. Appearing on C-SPAN’s call-in show, Washington Journal, she fielded a call about PNAC’s founding document, “Rebuilding America’s Defenses.” The caller asked her about the document’s plan for the Middle East and call for a “New Pearl Harbor” to set in motion the massive increase in defense spending that we’ve actually seen since the ascent of Bush the Second. PNAC’s founders are at the highest levels of the White House, the Defense and State Departments, the Iraq and Afghanistan occupations…and even at the American Enterprise Institute.

The caller’s question was, in Ms. Pletka’s world, part of a conspiracy theory. She said that the PNAC document was “thoughtful,” and that any mention of the “Pearl Harbor” reference was itself a “conspiracy theory.” She said that there was no mention of Pearl Harbor in the document.

And there is the conspiracy. A conspiracy of silence about the game-plan for empire that led to Iraq, to the pre-emptive strike doctrine…to the radical turn in world events we’ve seen since all those PNAC signatories took over the executive branch. No major news organization has told the people about it. And now, Ms. Pletka gets away with denying what is in black and white. It’s a conspiracy theory to refer to words that are, even today, posted on the PNAC website! And because her counterpoint on the show, some typical jerk-off from the Center from American Progress, probably hasn’t read the document…or is another cowering critic who fears the conspiracy theorist moniker…the truth did not come out. That poor caller is now a conspiracy theorist, too. Even though he was grounded in the facts.

So, let’s look at that “conspiracy theory” in action. Let’s look at the highpoints of that piece of work, so to speak. It was written in 1998-1999.

PAGE 4:
Likewise, the Clinton Administration has continued the fiction that the operations of American forces in the Persian Gulf are merely temporary duties. Nearly a decade after the Gulf War, U.S. air, ground and naval forces continue to protect enduring American interests in the region.

PAGE 14:
In the Persian Gulf region, the presence of American forces, along with British and French units, has become a semi-permanent fact of life. Though the immediate mission of those forces is to enforce the no-fly zones over northern and southern Iraq, they represent the long-term commitment of the United States and its major allies to a region of vital importance. Indeed, the United States has for decades sought to play a more permanent role in Gulf regional security. While the unresolved conflict with Iraq provides the immediate justification, the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein.

PAGE 17:
Over the long term, Iran may well prove as large a threat to U.S. interests in the Gulf as Iraq has. And even should U.S.-Iranian relations improve, retaining forward-based forces in the region would still be an essential element in U.S. security strategy given the longstanding American interests in the region.

PAGE 19:
As a supplement to forces stationed abroad under long-term basing arrangements, the United States should seek to establish a network of “deployment bases” or “forward operating bases” to increase the reach of current and future forces. Not only will such an approach improve the ability to project force to outlying regions, it will help circumvent the political, practical and financial constraints on expanding the network of American bases overseas.

PAGE 51:
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. Domestic politics and industrial policy will shape the pace and content of transformation as much as the requirements of current missions.

PAGE 60:
Space itself will become a theater of war, as nations gain access to space capabilities and come to rely on them; further, the distinction between military and commercial space systems – combatants and noncombatants – will become blurred. Information systems will become an important focus of attack, particularly for U.S. enemies seeking to short-circuit sophisticated American forces. And advanced forms of biological warfare that can “target” specific genotypes may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool.

The real conspiracy is the conspiracy of silence about this and the other glaringly obvious dots that remain unconnected. Pletka is a propagandist of the first order, using lies and subterfuge to hide the agenda she and her cohorts are implementing every day all around the world. There are conspiracies, my friends, and some are in full pubic view.

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