Andrew Bacevich, "Tailors to the Emperor," New Left Review, Number 69, May/June 2011, pages 101-124.
There was a time when U.S. presidents would explicitly deny that the USA had any interest in offensive military action and that despite the USA's huge arsenal, it was for defensive purposes only. Then, somehow, that policy changed. And that policy was institutionalized with the September 2002 National Security Strategy of the United States, also know as the "Bush Doctrine," a policy of "pre-emptive war" and "preventive war." And now the Obama administration continues that policy with the self-annointed authority to kill anybody anywhere in the world. How did we get to this place in history? In "Tailors to the Emperor" Bacevich explains it as a product the Wohlstetter School of the neo-conservatives.
Some other, related items:
Andrew Bacevich, "An End to Empire: The Cold War and Long War are over—it’s time to return to reality," The American Conservative, 07 September 2011.
Jim Lobe, "How neo-cons influence the Pentagon ...," Asia Times Online, 08 August 2003.
Karen Kwiatkowski, "In Rumsfeld's Shop: A senior Air Force officer watches as the neocons consolidate their Pentagon coup," The American Conservative, 01 December 2003.
Karen Kwiatkowski, "Conscientious Objector: A senior Air Force officer watches civilians craft the war plan," The American Conservative, 15 December 2003.
Karen Kwiatkowski, "Open Door Policy: A strange thing happened on the way to the war," The American Conservative, 19 January 2004.
Karen Kwiatkowski, "The new Pentagon papers," Salon.com, 10 March 2004.
Adam Curtis, The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of the Politics of Fear, BBC, 2004.
Added after this post originally published:
"Saddam Shame" by Roy Zimmerman: