I don't see how I could have missed it, obviously, the press failed to give these papers the prominence and exposure they deserved. But I'm sure they raised eyebrows all over the world, and others with a keen eye to their own security, are very sensitive as to what is going on here, and who's in charge. The apologists, will, of course, shrug it off by saying that it might as well be us that runs the world as anyone else, presumably, because we are nicer people. But I do not agree with that. The very act that this policy was even being considered, and that the personalities responsible for it are still nominally in power, is detrimental to our security as well as everyone else's.

It is the role of politics, diplomacy and the military to identify and mitigate threats to the nation, and if necessary, eliminate them. But when any nation decides that it's security requires the manipulation and control of its neighbors, indeed, the whole world, those neighbors need beware, and they will do everything possible to undermine us. This perspective extends globally. No one is safe, not just from what the country is now, but for what it might become in the future. They will resist, both the ruthless and unscrupulous regimes as well as those that share values and civilization with us. In short, this policy undermines our security because it make everyone afraid of us, and unable to trust us.

You know, a lot of things suddenly make sense that never did before. Of course, these documents are just boiler plate, wish lists, "mission statements", to use the latest execubabble. It certainly doesn't reflect the way things actually worked out. I realize they are not detailed plans or a list of goals, it simply reflects the mind-set of those who drafted these papers, their guiding philosophy. This is the Neocon Manifesto, at least in international affairs, just as Strauss outlined the framework of the infrastructure required to establish and perpetuate this philosophy domestically as a permanent part of the American political landscape.