Through the influence of Project for the New American Century, the structure and thrust of US military power is being fundamentally reshaped, with massive increases in defence spending, the revival of ‘Star Wars’, the projected militarisation of space and constant technological innovation. The aim is ‘full spectrum dominance’ across the globe; one result is Iraq; another the widespread US public acceptance of pax Americana; yet another, the notion that war could be fought at virtually no human cost to US forces. If so, the last restraint on the US war machine has been removed.
1 ‘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.’ Project for the New American Century, Rebuilding America’s Defenses: strategy, forces and resources for a new century (2000), p. 14.
2.
2 Ibid., p. 51.
3.
3 ‘Full spectrum dominance’ means the ability of US forces to defeat any adversary and control any situation across the range of military operations. It was introduced as the key term in the Department of Defense’s Joint Vision 2020 planning document published in June 2000.
4.
4 D. Rumsfeld , ‘Transforming the military’ , Foreign Affairs (Vol. 81, no. 3, 2002), p. 23 . That a few months later Rumsfeld led the war on Iraq, a very visible, predictable and well-known target, is one of the contradictions of the fight against terrorism.
5.
5 R. Kagan , ‘Power and weakness’ , Policy Review (No. 113, 2002).
6.
6 S. Pilet , ‘Game not over yet’, Le Monde Diplomatique English Edition (September 2003), p. 16.
7.
7 N. Lemann , ‘Dreaming about war’, The New Yorker (16 July 2001).
8.
8 For a useful discussion of RMA, see J. Harris , ‘Dreams of global hegemony and the technology of war’ , Race & Class (Vol. 45, no. 2, 2003).
9.
9 Rumsfeld, op. cit., p. 22.
10.
10 I. Traynor , ‘How American power girds the globe with a ring of steel’ , Guardian (21 April 2003).
11.
11 J. Wilsdon , ‘Mission to planet Rumsfeld’ , Guardian (1 March 2004).
12.
12 Project for the New American Century, op. cit., p. 55.
13.
13 Rumsfeld, op. cit. p. 27.
14.
14 See DARPA website, http://www.darpa.mil.
15.
15 M. Boot , ‘The new American way of war’ , Foreign Affairs (Vol. 82, no. 4, 2003).
16.
16 Project for the New American Century, op. cit., p. 62.
17.
17 M. Rosenwald , ‘Can an electronic device replace damaged brain circuits?’ , Popular Science (June 2003).
