With Paul Wolfowitz on the Hill last week doing the Senate Armed Services Two-Step, I re-read this Paul Wolfowitz primer I posted on 9 March 2003. It’s possibly more relevant now than it was then; I’ve posted the primer in its entirety in the extended entry.
Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz has been a very influential advisor of Republican foreign policy since the Gulf War, and in his current role, is a central advisor to the President and in many ways an author of the administration’s stance on Iraq. He is also unknown to most Americans, working in the shadows of the more visible Rumsfeld and Powell. Given his influence on the administration and distinct philosophy regarding foreign policy, In the public interest I want to offer a brief Wolfowitz web profile:
We have not one, but 17, U.N. Security Council resolutions to deal with the problem of Iraq. We’re at a point of real decision, and if we lose that point, the credibility not only of the United States but of the entire world body is going to go down the tubes. We haven’t yet even been able to bring the North Korean issue to the Security Council, much less have a resolution. When we do — and I think we will, and I think we should, and I think we’re going to — our credibility and the credibility of the Security Council will be greatly increased if we have managed — peacefully or, if necessary, by force — to enforce the will of the U.N. expressed in 1441.
The policies of the last 20 years, whether you think they were carried out effectively or ineffectively, obviously don’t work. This is not going to be a problem solved by locking somebody up and putting them in jail. It’s not going to be solved by some limited military action. It’s going to take, as the President has said and Secretary Rumsfeld has said, a broad and sustained campaign against the terrorist networks and the states that support those networks. (Again, he made this statement only three days after the attacks.)
If you are serious about understanding Bush foreign policy, you have to better understand Wolfowitz. And if you want to better understand Wolfowitz, each of these links is worth the read.
Posted by Avocare at September 13, 2003 01:37 PM | TrackBack