Saturday, October 13, 2007

The American Century

Some important quotes from key public figures of the "American Century"

George Keenan (The "father of containment", historian, political scientist) in 1948, in 'Review of Current Trends, U.S. Foreign Policy', PPS/23, Top Secret.
"We have about 50% of the world's wealth, but only 6.3 percent of it's population ...In this situation, we cannot fail to be the object of envy and resentment. Our real task in the coming period is to devise a pattern of relationships which will permit us to maintain this position of disparity ... We need not deceive ourselves that we can afford the luxury of altruism and world-benefaction ... We should cease to talk about vague and ...unreal objectives such as human rights, the raising of living standards, and democratization."
Henry Luce, the editor of Time Magazine (who in the Feb. 7, 1941 issue of Life magazine, authored and signed an editorial, "The American Century")
"It now becomes our time to be the powerhouse from which the ideals spread throughout the world and do their mysterious work of lifting the life of mankind from the level of the beasts to what the Psalmist called a little lower than the angels."

"America as the dynamic center of ever-widening spheres of enterprise, America as the training center of the skillful servants of mankind, America as the Good Samaritan, really believing again that it is more blessed to give than to receive, and America as the powerhouse of the ideals of Freedom and Justice - out of these elements surely can be fashioned a vision of the 20th Century to which we can and will devote ourselves in joy and gladness and vigor and enthusiasm."
"Draft Memorandum to President Truman," in Diplomatic Papers, 1945: The Near East and Africa, p. 45, Vol. VIII, Foreign Relations of the United States, U.S. Department of State, University of Wisconsin Digital Collections.
"In Saudi Arabia, where the oil resources constitute a stupendous source of strategic power, and one of the greatest material prizes in world history, a concession covering this oil is nominally in American control. It will undoubtedly be lost to the United States unless this Government is able to demonstrate in a practical way its recognition of this concession as of national interest by acceding to the reasonable requests of King Ibn Saud that he be assisted temporarily in his economic and financial difficulties until the exploitation of the concession, on a practical commercial basis, begins to bring substantial royalties to Saudi Arabia."
McGeorge Bundy (United States National Security Advisor to Presidents Kennedy and Johnson from 1961–1966) in "The End of Either/Or," Foreign Affairs, Volume 45, No 2, January, 1967, pp. 189-201.
"There are people who understand that we have to be in Indochina and just differ on the tactics, and then there are the wild men in the wings who think there’s something wrong with carrying out aggression against another country."
Essentials of Post-Cold War Deterrence (a document produced in 1995 as a "Terms of Reference" by the Policy Subcommittee of the Strategic Advisory Group (SAG) of the United States Strategic Command (current USSTRATCOM, former CINCSTRAT), a branch of the Department of Defense)
"The fact that some elements may appear to be potentially 'out of control' can be beneficial to creating and reinforcing fears and doubts in the minds of an adversary's decision makers. This essential sense of fear is the working force of deterrence. That the U.S. may become irrational and vindictive if its vital interests are attacked should be part of the national persona we project to all adversaries."
Apocalypse Soon (by Robert S. McNamara who was U.S. secretary of defense from 1961 to 1968 ) wrote in 'Foreign Policy' in 2005.
"It is time—well past time, in my view—for the United States to cease its Cold War-style reliance on nuclear weapons as a foreign-policy tool. At the risk of appearing simplistic and provocative, I would characterize current U.S. nuclear weapons policy as immoral, illegal, militarily unnecessary, and dreadfully dangerous. The risk of an accidental or inadvertent nuclear launch is unacceptably high."
Dean Acheson (United States Secretary of State in the Truman Administration during 1949-1953) speaks on the Panel: Cuban Quarantine, Implications for the Future, 57 Proc. Am. So. Int'l (Apr 1963)
"I must conclude that the propriety of the Cuban quarantine is not a legal issue. The power, position and prestige of the United States has been challenged by another state and law simply does not deal with such questions of ultimate power - power that comes close to the sources of sovereignty. I cannot believe that there are principles of law that say we must accept destruction of our way of life .....No law can destroy the state creating the law. The survival of states is not a matter of law."
Arthur Schlesinger, Historian and Kennedy aide (see "On the Brink: The Cuban Missile Crisis", John F. Kennedy Library and Foundation, October 20, 2002)
"The Cuban Missile Crisis was the most dangerous in the Cold War. It can be argued further that it was the most dangerous moment in human history. Because never before had two contending powers possessed between them the technical capacity to blow up the world. This was an unprecedented moment in the history of humankind, and we’re lucky to have survived it."

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