Origins of Regime Change in Iraq
The Carnegie Endowment have really come through with a detailed round-up tracing how the colonialist big willy fantasies of a few renegade die-hard neocons in the mid-90s have now become a very terrible reality for civilians and soldiers fighting in Iraq. It’s been brewing for a long time.
In 1992, Paul Wolfowitz, then-under secretary of defense for policy, supervised the drafting of the Defense Policy Guidance document. Wolfowitz had objected to what he considered the premature ending of the 1991 Iraq War. In the new document, he outlined plans for military intervention in Iraq as an action necessary to assure “access to vital raw material, primarily Persian Gulf oil” and to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and threats from terrorism.
The guidance called for preemptive attacks and ad hoc coalitions but said that the U.S. should be ready to act alone when “collective action cannot be orchestrated.” The primary goal of U.S. policy should be to prevent the rise of any nation that could challenge the United States. When the document leaked to the New York Times, it proved so extreme that it had to be rewritten.
In 1996, Richard Perle, Douglas Feith and David Wurmser, now administration officials, joined in a report to the newly elected Likud government in Israel calling for “a clean break” with the policies of negotiating with the Palestinians and trading land for peace. They said “Israel can shape its strategic environment�by weakening, containing and even rolling back Syria. This effort can focus on removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq�Iraq’s future could affect the strategic balance in the Middle East profoundly.” They called for “reestablishing the principle of preemption.”
There’s lots more here:
Excerpts from 1992 Draft “Defense Planning Guidance,” A policy statement on America’s mission in the post-Cold War era drafted under Paul Wolfowitz, then-under secretary of defense for policy. 1992
“A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm” In a memo to then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Richard Perle, Douglas Feith and others present a bold new strategy for Israel that focuses on removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq. July 1996
Letter to President Clinton on Iraq Conservative thinkers, many of whom became senior officials in the Bush Administration, articulate to then-President Clinton the urgent need to depose Saddam, 26 January 1998
““Rebuilding America’s Defenses A report by the Project for the New American Century coauthored by among others, six key defense and foreign policy officials now serving in the Bush administration. This report seems to have become a blueprint for Bush’s foreign and defense policies. September 2000
“The National Security Strategy of the United States of America,” This report outlines the administration’s approach to defending the country. This strategy marks a significant departure from previous approaches, a change that it attributes largely to the attacks of Sept. 11. 20 September 2002
“The US-Middle East Partnership Initiative: Building Hope for the Years Ahead” Colin Powell lays out the Bush Administration’s US-Middle East Partnership Initiative and a vision for a peaceful, democratic Middle East. 12 December 2002
“The Future of Iraq” In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, members of the Bush Administration present their plans for rebuilding a post-war Iraq. Click here for Grosman’s Testimony, 11 February 2003
Richard Perle on NBC’s Meet the Press Richard Perle argues that a democratic Iraq could unleash the spread of democracy in the Middle East, 23 February 2003
“The Future of Iraq” President Bush Outlines his vision for Iraq and the Middle East in a Speech at the American Enterprise Institute. 26 February 2003
Earlier here.