Jeff Koopersmith on new revelations concerning the Bush Doctirne: the mantra was "Attack any country without warning as we see fit – just make goddamn sure the 'rationale' is getting the terrorist!"
November 10, 2008 – New York (apj.us) – This may just be the tip of the iceberg.
Even though a shocking executive order approved but not signed by President Bush four years ago seems to "limit" American preemptive attack action to 14 nations, the wording at least appears to allow our military to strike anywhere including countries with which we are not at war.
We have done so now perhaps a dozen times, against militants and Al Qaeda in Pakistan, Syria and other unknown places.
These raids were carried out mostly by Special Operations, and were authorized by none other than "Not The Donald" Rumsfeld before he left the Pentagon in disgrace.
It is the "unlimited mandate" to conduct operations in countries not at war with the United States which will raise more than some eyebrows, as it appears that the order would allow us to launch military attacks in Australia, France, Cuba, or the Netherlands as long as they are aimed at terrorists, or at least executed under such a guise.
According to unnamed sources, US forces attacked a compound in Pakistan two years ago. Our officials at the CIA watched the mission on video in real time at Langley, Virginia. Other missions recommended by the CIA (and God knows who else) have been canceled because the Bush Administration decided they were risky or diplomatically dangerous.
I wonder if those involved a raid on Venezuela or Cuba?
The Rumsfeld document is called “Al Qaeda Network Exord,” which "streamlined" the approval process to act outside declared war zones. Instead of taking days to get "the nod" it could take hours.
Bush issued an order just after September 11th, 2001 which authorized the CIA to kill Al Qaeda militants anywhere on earth. One wonders why this authorization was not used to assassinate Saddam Hussein and his sons inasmuch as Messrs. Cheney and Rumsfeld, along with other Neocons in the Administration, told the world that Iraq was a training ground or hiding place for Al Qaeda.
Surely the order would have been elastic enough for that.
The order allows raids into Syria, Pakistan, and Yemen. Worse yet, it also allows Special Forces to operate in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Persian Gulf in secret. This makes more clear the Bush Administration's idea of expanding the definition of "self defense" and how such expansion is rationalized.
It appears that American commandos could strike in the middle of Paris without informing the French government it was pursuing "Al Qaeda or some other terrorist group or individual."
President-elect Obama is reportedly considering retaining Robert M. Gates as Defense Secretary in the new Administration. Perhaps Mr. Obama might think twice, since Secretary Gates specifically ordered the military to plan a "series of operations" in cooperation with the CIA in Pakistan.
That order, it is said, still needed to be approved by the group of Mr. Bush’s top national security and foreign policy advisers, called the "Principals Committee."
A "Principals Committee"? I wonder if the group has principles.
Jeff Koopersmith is an internationally renowned political consultant, opinion research authority and policy analyst. He has lobbied for causes including the alternative fuel sector and women's health, and is an expert on the international real estate market. He lives in Philadelphia, Washington and Geneva.