District 53 Committee

Among its goals are to “strengthen our ties to democratic allies and to challenge regimes
hostile to our interests and values”. What is meant by such “challenge” has been revealed in
its published papers.

Formation of its ideas

Many members of the Project were students of Philosophy Professor Leo Strauss or his disciples.
Strauss was a staunch believer in the philosophy of Thomas Hobbes, to whom he was guided by
German legal scholar Carl Schmitt. For further and crucial information to understand how this is
important to us, see The Straussians, attached.

Many of its members were veterans of the Reagan and Bush I administrations. However, they
subscribed to ideas which were far more radical than either of their presidents did. In addition, some
members are or were members of the oil industry and/or the defense industry. A few were attached
to far-right religious organizations. But what bound them all together were their ideas about US
interests as they related to global hegemony and US access to world natural resources.

In 1992, then Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney had a paper drafted by Paul Wolfowitz, outlining
the new needs of the Defense Department and US military in light of the collapse of the Soviet Union .
A draft of the document, Defense Planning Guidance for the Fiscal Years 1994-1999, was so
radical that it alarmed senior officers in the Pentagon sufficiently to cause them to leak it to the press.

It accurately said that the only remaining superpower was the United States, but posited it should stay
that way, by preemptive force if necessary It stressed the need for the US to have access to the
natural resources belonging to others. It outlined these objectives:

1        The US must “prevent any hostile power from dominating a region whose resources would, under
      consolidated control, be sufficient to generate global power….
2        Address sources of regional conflict and instability… the pre-eminent responsibility for addressing
      selectively those wrongs which threaten not only our interests, but those of our allies or friends, or
      which could seriously unsettle international relations. Various types of U.S. interests may be
      involved in such instances:

▪ access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil…

▪ Middle East and Southwest Asia --In the Middle East and Southwest Asia, our overall objective
is to remain the predominant outside power in the region and preserve U.S. and Western
access to the region's oil.

This would be a prophetic document, the radical principles of which were rejected at the time, but
would be adopted after the ascendancy of George W. Bush to the Presidency.

Other Pre PNAC documents authored by members:

1995    Zalmay Khalilzad (oil industry) publishes, “From Containment to Global Leadership”.
           The United States to move aggressively in the world and thus exercise effective control
           over the world’s resources.

1996 Bill Kristol and Rob ert Kagan author “Towards a Neo-Reaganite Foreign Policy”— US
goal – a very clear statement of purpose “benevolent global hegemony”

Founding of PNAC--

The goals of these individuals are simple but profound—nothing less than US domination American
throughout the world, through use of force as necessary, and the securing of vital natural resources,
particularly Middle East oil.

The methods of securing this hegemony are fully explained in PNAC’s publications, which are proudly
displayed on their website at www.newamericancentury.org. We recommend that they be read in full.

These like-minded individuals joined forces to form this well-funded tax-exempt think tank.

They have a quiet leader. In 1997, Dick Cheney, with the help of Jeb Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Paul
Wolfowitz, Lewis (Scooter) Libby, Elliott Abrams, Zalmay Khalilzad, Eliot A. Cohen, Francis Fukuyama,
Frank Gaffney, Fred C. Ikle, Gary Bauer, William J. Bennett, Midge Decter, Paula Dobriansky, Steve Forbes,
Aaron Friedberg, Donald Kagan, Norman Podhoretz, Dan Quayle, Peter W. Rodman, Stephen P. Rosen,
Henry S. Rowen, Vin Weber, and George Weigel, among others, founded and filled the Project for the New
American Century. Many of these individuals and other PNAC’s, such as Richard Perle, now hold
positions of extraordinary power in the Executive Branch or on the Defense Policy Board, which
advises the Department of Defense. A few others are in think tanks, 527’s and right-wing religious
or quasi-religious organizations.

Other Members of PNAC

John Bolton

Richard Perle

Richard Armitage, and many more.

Since its founding, PNAC has generated many Publications, but notably:

1998    Letter to President Clinton urging the ouster of Saddam Hussein, urging the ouster of
           Saddam Hussein. This would be a preemptive act. Signers are Elliott Abrams, Richard Armitage,
           William Bennett, Jeffrey Bergner, John Bolton, Paula Dobrianski, Francis Fugiyama, Robert Kagan,
           Zalmay Khalilzad, William Kristol, Richard Perle, Peter W. Rodman, Donald Rumsfeld, William Schneider, Jr.,
           Vin Weber, Paul Wolfowitz, R. James Woolsey, and Robert B. Zoellick

2000    PNAC (Project Director John Bolton) authors its vision for military domination by the United States
            by using the Clinton budget surplus to reshape its armed forces to be fast, spread throughout the world, and
            armed with small nuclear weapons.   It espouses   preemptive attacks. It set forth for the US military four
            core missions:

Defend the American homeland;

Fight and decisively win multiple, simultaneous major theater wars

perform the “constabulary” duties associated with shaping the security environment in critical regions;

transform U.S. forces to exploit the “revolution in military affairs

This document, Rebuilding America’s Defenses Strategy Forces and Resources for A New Century,
further requires the US domination of outer space, creating a new branch of the military, the US Space
Forces, and of cyberspace.

Publications by PNAC Administration Officials since coming to office

2001 Challenges For The 21st Century-- Cheney’s Strategic Energy Policy

2002 President Bush’s National Security Strategy—Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz et al

Among PNAC’s Accomplishments through the Bush Administration:

2001    Vice President Dick Cheney meets with energy industry executives and goes over Iraqi oil maps with them.
            Strategic Energy Policy “Challenges For The 21st Century” describes America's "biggest energy crisis in
            its history." It targets Saddam as a threat to American interests because of his control of Iraqi oilfields
           and recommends the use of 'military intervention… a preemptive act.

2001 The US invades Afghanistan, but fails to capture the people who killed almost 3,000 people on American soil,
and manages only to secure an oil pipeline with US military bases on its length and install a former Unocal
executive as the nation’s President. Its Ambassador to Afghanistan is Zalmay Khalilzad, PNAC author of
“From Containment to Global Leadership”

2002 June-- In a speech at West Point, Bush commits the United States to a doctrine of preemption: "Our security
will require all Americans…[to] be ready for preemptive action when necessary to defend our liberty and
to defend our lives." (White House Website)

2002 September 17 Bush's National Security Strategy asserts that the US will never again allow its military
supremacy to be challenged and embraces unilateral preemptive military strikes. (White House Website)

2003 March 19 The United States and its coalition invade Iraq.

2005 The Afghanistan oil pipeline is completed in April. Coincidentally, PNAC Zalmay Khalilzad is reassigned to a
new position—US Ambassador to Iraq.

2005 PNAC Wolfowitz ascends to the global position of President of the World Bank.

2005 PNAC and Project Director of “Rebuilding America’s Defenses”, John Bolton, is appointed, over the objections
of the US Senate, during its recess, to the global position of Ambassador to the UN.

2005        PNACs have their eyes on Iran, with the second largest oil reserves in the Middle East. The US administration
           is considering the unprecedented move of refusing a visa to the   new President of Iran to enter the United States
           to address the United Nations. Syria and North Korea are in PNAC’s sights.

2005    July 1.   Presidents of Russia and China issue joint declaration cautioning against countries which are
     expanding their domination over regions and interfering in the internal affairs of individual countries.
     Indicate the UN as the authority to mediate international disputes.