Magneze said:
I reckon they didn't want or allow it, it was just incompetance. However, as soon as it happened they realised how it could be used politically and then set about their plan.
No, they knew how politically useful it would be
before it happened.
PNAC specifically talks about 'full spectrum dominance', which in order to be achieved needed some ground work. Firstly, there needed to be defence budget increases to cover the costs of 'policing' the world and to pay for the R&D that would help transform the way the US goes to war, which in peace time is a tall order. Added to that was criticism of the 1992 Defence Policy Guidance Report that proposed maintaining high levels of defence spending. The criticism was directed at 'cold warriors' fighting to maintain cold war era levels of defence spending. The author of the report? None other than Dick Cheney. In order to change the public mood on defence spending in a post Soviet era there needed to be some external that would bring fear back into the US conciousness.
Also, full spectrum dominance also requires the control of space and cyber space. The internet is recognised by the boys at PNAC as a useful tool to people who oppose US dominance, they specifically site the Zapatistas in PNAC memoranda as a group who have exploited the advantages of internet communication. The way they propose to control the internet is to introduce legislation that will allow them to do so, to get the legislation through congress again they need the fear of attack.
Full spectrum dominance also means securing energy supplies and keeping the US economy afloat by propping up their huge trade deficiet by the continuation of the global oil price being quoted in dollars. The oil also needs to be transported to economically useful areas, that means pipelines across Afgahnistan, its just too convenient.
I've heard it said and read on the PNAC pages, tho I cannot find it now, that the US need some kind of Pearl Harbour episode to instill the fear that would allow increased defence spending and legislation on internet monitoring and policing and allow a fresh invasion into Iraq.
From this, we know they
wanted such an occurance, which for me casts a big shadow over whether they would
allow such an occurance.
Both the 9/11 commission and the Butler report both run themselves round in circles on intelligence issues, rumours of terrorists planning to use planes in an attack but nothing specific so they did nothing. Suprious intelligence on Iraqi WMD, this time we act, double standard or mere inconsistency. Incompetent intelligence, incompetent politicians and strategists. Yeah we all have our failings but pleading ignorance is too weak for me. There may have been many incompetent acts and absolute failings in al these affairs but for me even that is another smokescreen.