Every nation is entitled, no, obligated, to make whatever arrangements for its security and defense that it can. But the sheer arrogance of this document and the minds that drafted it is difficult to comprehend. Although many other nations throughout history have attempted this sort of hegemony and cynical disregard of the welfare of the rest of the planet, I can't think of any that have actually articulated and rationalized it in such brutal detail and self-righteousness since ancient Rome. It is difficult to believe it was written by Americans.

Many other nations have acted like this, and others today continue to do so, but they usually attempt to hide the fact from others, perhaps even themselves, by cloaking it in ideology and excuses and imagined and exaggerated threats. Reading this, my first instinct was that this must be a hoax, some slander concocted by our enemies to justify their designs against us. Surely, this was a fake, planted by treacherous manipulators solely to discredit us. It reads like black propaganda, but it is the heart of darkness.

This policy did not survive into the Clinton years, and its implementation under the present administration bled out on the sands of the middle east. Today, we are too weakened and exposed in too many areas, through our own mismanagement, to even attempt to carry out this program. But I understand now why the rest of the world, even our allies, regard us with fear and distate, why our legitimate efforts to defend ourselves are viewed with such suspicion, and why our enemies work so tirelessly and ruthlessly against us.