The Vulcans
Encyclopedia
The Vulcans is a nickname used to refer to Republican Presidential candidate George W. Bush
's foreign policy advisory team assembled to brief him prior to the 2000 U.S. presidential election
. The Vulcans were led by Condoleezza Rice
and included Richard Armitage
, Robert Blackwill
, Stephen Hadley
, Richard Perle
, Dov S. Zakheim, Robert Zoellick
and Paul Wolfowitz
, and Wolfowitz protegé, Scooter Libby. Other key campaign figures including Dick Cheney
, George P. Shultz
and Colin Powell
were also closely associated with the group but were never actually members. During the campaign, Bush sought to deflect questions about his own lack of foreign policy experience by pointing to this group of experienced advisers. After the election, all the members of the team received key positions within the new Bush administration.
During the summer of 1998, George W. Bush
met with Condoleezza Rice
at the behest of George H.W. Bush at the Bush estate in Kennebunkport, Maine
. Rice had been director for Soviet and East European Affairs of the National Security Council
under Brent Scowcroft
during George H. W. Bush
's administration and Scowcroft had been guiding her career ever since, ensuring she came to the attention of Bush Sr. "Eventually he was quite taken with her," Scowcroft recalled in an interview by James Mann for his book Rise of the Vulcans (2004). According to Coit D. Blacker
, Rice and George W. Bush also "bonded at Kennebunkport" in August 1998. The several days of discussions that followed resulted in Rice agreeing to take charge of foreign policy for George W. Bush’s upcoming presidential campaign. Later that year Paul Wolfowitz
, a former protégé of George Shultz and Dick Cheney
, was taken on as well. Wolfowitz had also served as foreign policy advisor to Bob Dole during the 1996 U.S. presidential election
.
In early 1999, a team largely drawn from the middle echelons of the first Bush administration began to act as foreign policy advisors to George W. Bush.
The name "The Vulcans" alludes to a huge statue
of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and metalworking
, in Rice’s home town of Birmingham
, Alabama
.
In early 1999, the Vulcans held their first meeting in Austin, Texas
, which was attended by Cheney and Shultz. The group communicated regularly afterward.
During 1999 and 2000, a second group was formed under the leadership of Donald Rumsfeld
to deal specifically with the subject of missile defence. While distinct from the Vulcans, it did include Rice, Wolfowitz, Hadley and Perle alongside Shultz and various scientists, including Martin Anderson of Stanford University
and Lowell Wood of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
.
laid out his foreign policy plans on October 11, 2000, at the second Gore-Bush presidential debate against his Democratic rival Vice President
Al Gore
.
“The vice president and I have a disagreement about the use of troops,” Bush announced. “He believes in nation building. I would be very careful about using troops as nation builders,” he clarified, expressing particular concerns about the Clinton Administration’s recent involvement in Somalia
and Haiti
, by telling Gore:
“I believe the role of the military is to fight and win war,” Bush went on to explain, “I don’t want to try to put our troops in all places at all times. I don’t want to be the world’s policeman.”
During the campaign Bush promised to increase the defense budget, stating that “America’s armed forces need better equipment, better training and better pay.” However Bush did not promise as much of an increase as Gore even going as far as to state “If this is a race to see who can spend the most money, I’m going to lose.” Analyst William D. Hartung
of the World Policy Institute
points out that Gore promised $100 billion over 10 years while Bush promised $50 billion over the same period. However, according to Hartung, “the $50 billion referred to specific projects,” and that “[i]t could not possibly have referred to their entire proposed increase”.
Bush, at the advice of Hadley, also proposed greater nuclear arms reductions than Gore. Hadley’s plan proposed unilaterally reducing the number of proposed long-range nuclear missiles to around 1,500-2,000 from the then 6,500-7,500, but caveats to this included the abandonment of attempts to get the Senate to ratify the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
and the development of new low-yield bunker-busting mini-nukes
for actual battle-field use. Hartung feared that these steps would “re-start the nuclear arms race” as the U.S. arsenal was upgraded.
At the advice of Rumsfeld’s missile defense group, Bush committed himself to building a strong National Missile Defense
. Stating that "[n]ow is not the time to defend outdated treaties but to defend the American people," he made it clear that he was willing to abandon the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
in order to do this. A member of the group had told the Washington Post that "All of us to a greater or lesser extent were uncomfortable with the treaty, but Bush said 'My concern isn’t the treaty. My concern is missile defense, and I don’t want anything to stand in the way of it.'"
Bush’s plans for NMD went far beyond the limited options endorsed by the Clinton Administration. As Hartung points out, “Bush’s advisers suggested that if elected, would not limit the system to land-based options, but would move full speed ahead to develop interceptors based at sea, lasers based on aircraft and perhaps lasers or rockets based in space as well.” Hartung estimated that this would cost a minimum of $100-200 billion, far in excess of Bush's promised defense budget increase.
Following the election of George W. Bush
as President of the United States
, the Vulcans all received key positions within the new administration.
On December 13, 2001, in accordance with his campaign promises on National Missile Defense
, Bush gave Russia
six months notice of the United States' withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
. This was the first time in recent history the United States had withdrawn from a major international arms treaty.
The humble foreign policy outlined by Bush during his campaign, however, was quickly dropped after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in favor of a more aggressive policy that has been dubbed the Bush Doctrine
.
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
's foreign policy advisory team assembled to brief him prior to the 2000 U.S. presidential election
United States presidential election, 2000
The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Republican candidate George W. Bush, then-governor of Texas and son of former president George H. W. Bush , and Democratic candidate Al Gore, then-Vice President....
. The Vulcans were led by Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
and included Richard Armitage
Richard Armitage (politician)
Richard Lee Armitage, GCMG AC CNZM was the 13th United States Deputy Secretary of State, the second-in-command at the State Department, serving from 2001 to 2005.-Early life and military career:...
, Robert Blackwill
Robert Blackwill
Robert Dean Blackwill is an American lobbyist and retired diplomat. Blackwill was the United States Ambassador to India , and United States National Security Council Deputy for Iraq , where he was a liaison between Paul Bremer and Condoleezza Rice.-Early life, education, and Peace Corps...
, Stephen Hadley
Stephen Hadley
Stephen John Hadley was the 21st U.S. Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs , serving under President George W. Bush....
, Richard Perle
Richard Perle
Richard Norman Perle is an American political advisor, consultant, and lobbyist who began his career in government, a senior staff member to Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson on the Senate Armed Services Committee in the 1970’s...
, Dov S. Zakheim, Robert Zoellick
Robert Zoellick
Robert Bruce Zoellick is the eleventh president of the World Bank, a position he has held since July 1, 2007. He was previously a managing director of Goldman Sachs, United States Deputy Secretary of State and U.S. Trade Representative, from February 7, 2001 until February 22, 2005.President...
and Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Dundes Wolfowitz is a former United States Ambassador to Indonesia, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, President of the World Bank, and former dean of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University...
, and Wolfowitz protegé, Scooter Libby. Other key campaign figures including Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
, George P. Shultz
George P. Shultz
George Pratt Shultz is an American economist, statesman, and businessman. He served as the United States Secretary of Labor from 1969 to 1970, as the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury from 1972 to 1974, and as the U.S. Secretary of State from 1982 to 1989...
and Colin Powell
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...
were also closely associated with the group but were never actually members. During the campaign, Bush sought to deflect questions about his own lack of foreign policy experience by pointing to this group of experienced advisers. After the election, all the members of the team received key positions within the new Bush administration.
Origin
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
met with Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
at the behest of George H.W. Bush at the Bush estate in Kennebunkport, Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
. Rice had been director for Soviet and East European Affairs of the National Security Council
United States National Security Council
The White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the...
under Brent Scowcroft
Brent Scowcroft
Brent Scowcroft, KBE was the United States National Security Advisor under Presidents Gerald Ford and George H. W. Bush and a Lieutenant General in the United States Air Force. He also served as Military Assistant to President Richard Nixon and as Deputy Assistant to the President for National...
during George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
's administration and Scowcroft had been guiding her career ever since, ensuring she came to the attention of Bush Sr. "Eventually he was quite taken with her," Scowcroft recalled in an interview by James Mann for his book Rise of the Vulcans (2004). According to Coit D. Blacker
Coit D. Blacker
Dr. Coit Dennis Blacker served as Special Assistant to the President of the United States for National Security Affairs and Senior Director for Russian, Ukrainian and Eurasian Affairs at the National Security Council under National Security Advisor Anthony Lake during the Clinton administration...
, Rice and George W. Bush also "bonded at Kennebunkport" in August 1998. The several days of discussions that followed resulted in Rice agreeing to take charge of foreign policy for George W. Bush’s upcoming presidential campaign. Later that year Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Wolfowitz
Paul Dundes Wolfowitz is a former United States Ambassador to Indonesia, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, President of the World Bank, and former dean of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University...
, a former protégé of George Shultz and Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
, was taken on as well. Wolfowitz had also served as foreign policy advisor to Bob Dole during the 1996 U.S. presidential election
United States presidential election, 1996
The United States presidential election of 1996 was a contest between the Democratic national ticket of President Bill Clinton of Arkansas and Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee and the Republican national ticket of former Senator Bob Dole of Kansas for President and former Housing Secretary Jack...
.
In early 1999, a team largely drawn from the middle echelons of the first Bush administration began to act as foreign policy advisors to George W. Bush.
- Richard ArmitageRichard Armitage (politician)Richard Lee Armitage, GCMG AC CNZM was the 13th United States Deputy Secretary of State, the second-in-command at the State Department, serving from 2001 to 2005.-Early life and military career:...
had performed various ambassador and emissary roles around the world for Bush Sr. - Robert BlackwillRobert BlackwillRobert Dean Blackwill is an American lobbyist and retired diplomat. Blackwill was the United States Ambassador to India , and United States National Security Council Deputy for Iraq , where he was a liaison between Paul Bremer and Condoleezza Rice.-Early life, education, and Peace Corps...
had been Presidential Assistant for European and Soviet Affairs for Bush Sr. - Stephen HadleyStephen HadleyStephen John Hadley was the 21st U.S. Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs , serving under President George W. Bush....
had been U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy. - Richard PerleRichard PerleRichard Norman Perle is an American political advisor, consultant, and lobbyist who began his career in government, a senior staff member to Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson on the Senate Armed Services Committee in the 1970’s...
had been U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense during the Reagan administration. - Condoleezza RiceCondoleezza RiceCondoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
- Paul WolfowitzPaul WolfowitzPaul Dundes Wolfowitz is a former United States Ambassador to Indonesia, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, President of the World Bank, and former dean of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University...
- Dov ZakheimDov ZakheimDov S. Zakheim is a former official of the United States government.Born December 18, 1948 in Brooklyn, New York, Zakheim earned his bachelor's degree in government from Columbia University in 1970, and his doctorate in economics and politics at St. Antony's College, Oxford University...
had been U.S. Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Planning and Resources. - Robert ZoellickRobert ZoellickRobert Bruce Zoellick is the eleventh president of the World Bank, a position he has held since July 1, 2007. He was previously a managing director of Goldman Sachs, United States Deputy Secretary of State and U.S. Trade Representative, from February 7, 2001 until February 22, 2005.President...
had been aide to U.S. Secretary of State James BakerJames BakerJames Addison Baker, III is an American attorney, politician and political advisor.Baker served as the Chief of Staff in President Ronald Reagan's first administration and in the final year of the administration of President George H. W. Bush...
.
The name "The Vulcans" alludes to a huge statue
Vulcan statue
The Vulcan statue is the largest cast iron statue in the world, and is the city symbol of Birmingham, Alabama, reflecting its roots in the iron and steel industry. The tall statue depicts the Roman god Vulcan, god of the fire and forge. It was created as Birmingham's entry for the Louisiana...
of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire and metalworking
Vulcan (mythology)
Vulcan , aka Mulciber, is the god of beneficial and hindering fire, including the fire of volcanoes in ancient Roman religion and Roman Neopaganism. Vulcan is usually depicted with a thunderbolt. He is known as Sethlans in Etruscan mythology...
, in Rice’s home town of Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
.
In early 1999, the Vulcans held their first meeting in Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, which was attended by Cheney and Shultz. The group communicated regularly afterward.
During 1999 and 2000, a second group was formed under the leadership of Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Rumsfeld
Donald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...
to deal specifically with the subject of missile defence. While distinct from the Vulcans, it did include Rice, Wolfowitz, Hadley and Perle alongside Shultz and various scientists, including Martin Anderson of Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
and Lowell Wood of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , just outside Livermore, California, is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center founded by the University of California in 1952...
.
Campaign
George W. BushGeorge W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
laid out his foreign policy plans on October 11, 2000, at the second Gore-Bush presidential debate against his Democratic rival Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
.
- "If we're an arrogant nation, they'll resent us. If we're a humble nation, but strong, they'll welcome us. And it's -- our nation stands alone right now in the world in terms of power, and that's why we have to be humble. And yet project strength in a way that promotes freedom."http://www.debates.org/pages/trans2000b.html
“The vice president and I have a disagreement about the use of troops,” Bush announced. “He believes in nation building. I would be very careful about using troops as nation builders,” he clarified, expressing particular concerns about the Clinton Administration’s recent involvement in Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
and Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
, by telling Gore:
- “I'm not so sure the role of the United States is to go around the world and say this is the way it's got to be. We can help. And maybe it's just our difference in government, the way we view government. I want to empower the people. I want to help people help themselves, not have government tell people what to do. I just don't think it's the role of the United States to walk into a country and say, we do it this way, so should you.”
“I believe the role of the military is to fight and win war,” Bush went on to explain, “I don’t want to try to put our troops in all places at all times. I don’t want to be the world’s policeman.”
During the campaign Bush promised to increase the defense budget, stating that “America’s armed forces need better equipment, better training and better pay.” However Bush did not promise as much of an increase as Gore even going as far as to state “If this is a race to see who can spend the most money, I’m going to lose.” Analyst William D. Hartung
William D. Hartung
William D. Hartung is director of the Arms Trade Resource Center at the World Policy Institute.He is also a Senior Research Fellow in the New America Foundation's American Strategy Program. He specializes in issues of weapons proliferation, the economics of military spending, and alternative...
of the World Policy Institute
World Policy Institute
The World Policy Institute, a non-partisan policy institute which claims to develop policies that require a progressive ideology. WPI focuses on cooperative policies in order to achieve : an inclusive and sustainable global market economy, engaged global civic participation and effective...
points out that Gore promised $100 billion over 10 years while Bush promised $50 billion over the same period. However, according to Hartung, “the $50 billion referred to specific projects,” and that “[i]t could not possibly have referred to their entire proposed increase”.
Bush, at the advice of Hadley, also proposed greater nuclear arms reductions than Gore. Hadley’s plan proposed unilaterally reducing the number of proposed long-range nuclear missiles to around 1,500-2,000 from the then 6,500-7,500, but caveats to this included the abandonment of attempts to get the Senate to ratify the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty bans all nuclear explosions in all environments, for military or civilian purposes. It was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 September 1996 but it has not entered into force.-Status:...
and the development of new low-yield bunker-busting mini-nukes
Nuclear bunker buster
Bunker-busting nuclear weapons, also known as earth-penetrating weapons , are a type of nuclear weapon designed to penetrate into soil, rock, or concrete to deliver a nuclear warhead to a target. These weapons would be used to destroy hardened, underground military bunkers buried deep in the ground...
for actual battle-field use. Hartung feared that these steps would “re-start the nuclear arms race” as the U.S. arsenal was upgraded.
At the advice of Rumsfeld’s missile defense group, Bush committed himself to building a strong National Missile Defense
National Missile Defense
National missile defense is a generic term for a type of missile defense intended to shield an entire country against incoming missiles, such as intercontinental ballistic missile or other ballistic missiles. Interception might be by anti-ballistic missiles or directed-energy weapons such as lasers...
. Stating that "[n]ow is not the time to defend outdated treaties but to defend the American people," he made it clear that he was willing to abandon the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty was a treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union on the limitation of the anti-ballistic missile systems used in defending areas against missile-delivered nuclear weapons....
in order to do this. A member of the group had told the Washington Post that "All of us to a greater or lesser extent were uncomfortable with the treaty, but Bush said 'My concern isn’t the treaty. My concern is missile defense, and I don’t want anything to stand in the way of it.'"
Bush’s plans for NMD went far beyond the limited options endorsed by the Clinton Administration. As Hartung points out, “Bush’s advisers suggested that if elected, would not limit the system to land-based options, but would move full speed ahead to develop interceptors based at sea, lasers based on aircraft and perhaps lasers or rockets based in space as well.” Hartung estimated that this would cost a minimum of $100-200 billion, far in excess of Bush's promised defense budget increase.
Legacy
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
as President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
, the Vulcans all received key positions within the new administration.
- Condoleezza RiceCondoleezza RiceCondoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
was appointed U.S. National Security Advisor and later U.S. Secretary of State in Bush's Second Administration. - Paul WolfowitzPaul WolfowitzPaul Dundes Wolfowitz is a former United States Ambassador to Indonesia, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense, President of the World Bank, and former dean of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University...
was appointed U.S. Deputy Secretary of DefenseUnited States Deputy Secretary of DefenseThe Deputy Secretary of Defense is the second-highest ranking official in the Department of Defense of the United States of America. The Deputy Secretary of Defense is appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate...
under Donald RumsfeldDonald RumsfeldDonald Henry Rumsfeld is an American politician and businessman. Rumsfeld served as the 13th Secretary of Defense from 1975 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford, and as the 21st Secretary of Defense from 2001 to 2006 under President George W. Bush. He is both the youngest and the oldest person to...
and later president of the World Bank. - Richard ArmitageRichard Armitage (politician)Richard Lee Armitage, GCMG AC CNZM was the 13th United States Deputy Secretary of State, the second-in-command at the State Department, serving from 2001 to 2005.-Early life and military career:...
was appointed U.S. Deputy Secretary of StateUnited States Deputy Secretary of StateThe Deputy Secretary of State of the United States is the chief assistant to the Secretary of State. If the Secretary of State resigns or dies, the Deputy Secretary of State becomes Acting Secretary of State until the President nominates and the Senate confirms a replacement. The position was...
under Colin PowellColin PowellColin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...
. - Robert BlackwillRobert BlackwillRobert Dean Blackwill is an American lobbyist and retired diplomat. Blackwill was the United States Ambassador to India , and United States National Security Council Deputy for Iraq , where he was a liaison between Paul Bremer and Condoleezza Rice.-Early life, education, and Peace Corps...
was appointed U.S. Ambassador to IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and later U.S. Deputy National Security AdvisorDeputy National Security AdvisorThe Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor is a member of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, serving as deputy to the President's National Security Advisor....
. - Stephen HadleyStephen HadleyStephen John Hadley was the 21st U.S. Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs , serving under President George W. Bush....
was appointed U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor under Rice and later U.S. National Security Advisor. - Richard PerleRichard PerleRichard Norman Perle is an American political advisor, consultant, and lobbyist who began his career in government, a senior staff member to Senator Henry “Scoop” Jackson on the Senate Armed Services Committee in the 1970’s...
was appointed chairman of the U.S. Defense Policy Board Advisory CommitteeDefense Policy Board Advisory CommitteeThe Defense Policy Board Advisory Committee, also referred to as the Defense Policy Board is a federal advisory committee to the United States Department of Defense. Their charter is available online through the office of the Director of Administration and Management of the Department of Defense...
. - Dov ZakheimDov ZakheimDov S. Zakheim is a former official of the United States government.Born December 18, 1948 in Brooklyn, New York, Zakheim earned his bachelor's degree in government from Columbia University in 1970, and his doctorate in economics and politics at St. Antony's College, Oxford University...
was appointed ComptrollerComptrollerA comptroller is a management level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization.In British government, the Comptroller General or Comptroller and Auditor General is in most countries the external auditor of the budget execution of the...
of the PentagonThe PentagonThe Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
. - Robert ZoellickRobert ZoellickRobert Bruce Zoellick is the eleventh president of the World Bank, a position he has held since July 1, 2007. He was previously a managing director of Goldman Sachs, United States Deputy Secretary of State and U.S. Trade Representative, from February 7, 2001 until February 22, 2005.President...
was appointed U.S. Trade Representative, United States Deputy Secretary of StateUnited States Deputy Secretary of StateThe Deputy Secretary of State of the United States is the chief assistant to the Secretary of State. If the Secretary of State resigns or dies, the Deputy Secretary of State becomes Acting Secretary of State until the President nominates and the Senate confirms a replacement. The position was...
and nominated as World Bank president in May 2007.
On December 13, 2001, in accordance with his campaign promises on National Missile Defense
National Missile Defense
National missile defense is a generic term for a type of missile defense intended to shield an entire country against incoming missiles, such as intercontinental ballistic missile or other ballistic missiles. Interception might be by anti-ballistic missiles or directed-energy weapons such as lasers...
, Bush gave Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
six months notice of the United States' withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
The Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty was a treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union on the limitation of the anti-ballistic missile systems used in defending areas against missile-delivered nuclear weapons....
. This was the first time in recent history the United States had withdrawn from a major international arms treaty.
The humble foreign policy outlined by Bush during his campaign, however, was quickly dropped after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in favor of a more aggressive policy that has been dubbed the Bush Doctrine
Bush Doctrine
The Bush Doctrine is a phrase used to describe various related foreign policy principles of former United States president George W. Bush. The phrase was first used by Charles Krauthammer in June 2001 to describe the Bush Administration's unilateral withdrawals from the ABM treaty and the Kyoto...
.
See also
- Project for the New American CenturyProject for the New American CenturyThe Project for the New American Century was an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. that lasted from 1997 to 2006. It was co-founded as a non-profit educational organization by neoconservatives William Kristol and Robert Kagan...
, a think tankThink tankA think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
formed in 1997 with significant Vulcan membership - Downing Street memoDowning Street memoThe "Downing Street memo" , sometimes described by critics of the Iraq War as the "smoking gun memo", is the note of a secret 23 July 2002, meeting of senior British Labour government, defence and intelligence figures discussing the build-up to the war, which included direct reference to classified...
, a classified British assessment of US war intentions based on a meeting in July 2002 - Hijacking CatastropheHijacking CatastropheHijacking Catastrophe: 9/11, Fear & the Selling of American Empire is a 2004 documentary narrated by Julian Bond and directed by Jeremy Earp and Sut Jhally...
, a documentary film narrated by Julian BondJulian BondHorace Julian Bond , known as Julian Bond, is an American social activist and leader in the American civil rights movement, politician, professor, and writer. While a student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, during the early 1960s, he helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating...
(2004) - Karen KwiatkowskiKaren KwiatkowskiKaren U. Kwiatkowski is an American activist and commentator. She is a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel whose assignments included duties as a Pentagon desk officer and a variety of roles for the National Security Agency. Since retiring, she has become a noted critic of the U.S....
, Lt. Col. USAF, Ret., whistleblower - Wolfowitz DoctrineWolfowitz Doctrinethumb|Paul Wolfowitz, co-author of the eponymous doctrine.Wolfowitz Doctrine is an unofficial name given to the initial version of the Defense Planning Guidance for the 1994–99 fiscal years authored by U.S...
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External links
- US Department of Defense 1992 (Paul Wolfowitz) Defense Planning Guidance, A compilation of the Wolfowitz draft, the revised draft, and reporting by The Washington Post and The New York Times http://www.yale.edu/strattech/92dpg.html
- Gordon Prather, Clarke's insights on Bush's 'Vulcans (WorldNetDaily, March 27, 2004)http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37769
- Glenn Kessler, U.S. Decision On Iraq Has Puzzling Past (Washington Post, January 12, 2003)http://www.commondreams.org/cgi-bin/print.cgi?file=/headlines03/0112-08.htm
- John B. Judis & Spencer Ackerman, The Selling of he Iraq War: The First Casualty (The New Republic, June 30, 2003)http://www.truthout.org/docs_03/070703A.shtml