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The Evolution of the Wolfowitz
Doctrine
- "Jewish and from a family of teachers, Wolfowitz is
for his part a brilliant product of East Coast universities. He has studied with two of the most eminent professors of the
1960s:Allen Bloom, the disciple of the German-Jewish philosopherLeo Stauss, and Albert Wollstetter, professor of mathematics
and a specialist in military strategy. These two names would end up counting. The neoconservatives have placed themselves
under the tutelary shadow of the strategist and the philosopher."
- Wolfowitz, following in the footsteps of his famous
father, attained his first diploma in mathematics and physics, earning a B.A. in 1965 from Cornell University, where his father
was then professor. Wolfowitz then changed universities as well as academic subject to the political sciences. In 1972, he
attained his doctoral degree from theUniversity of Chicago.. "There he is cared for by professor Albert Wohlstetter, [who,
later during] the Gulf War [had] still another large role will play."
Also attending at the University
of Chicago at the same time was Attorney General-to-be John Aschroft.
Wolfowitz taught from 1970-1973
at the Yale University (the homeland of Skull & bones) and in 1981 he taught at John Hopkins University. In 1993, Wolfowitz
became the George F. Kennan Professor for National Security Strategy at the National War College.
Source: translated on line
from the original German by Yahoo!; editted for clarity.
- Albert Wohlstetter worked for the Rand Corporation
until 1962 and settled down at the University of Chicago in 1964, where he met Paul Wolfowitz, who was "drawn to Wohlstetter's
intellect and temperament and began working under his supervision."
Wolfowitz's thought process
"picked up where Wohlstetter left off. Where Wohlstetter had warned of preparing for a rearmed Russia and a nuclear China, Wolfowitz considered the third dimension along which nuclear strategy would evolve: proliferation.
In his dissertation on nuclear
proliferation in the Middle East, he argued that the United States "needed to look beyond simply defending traditional allies
against the communist bloc" and that areas "with natural resources vital to the U.S. economy ought to be as much a part of
a strategic defense umbrella." Wolfowitz wrote that "anybody with the capability to threaten those areas must be regarded
with concern. In true Wohlstetter fashion, Wolfowitz argued that even the hint of nuclear weapons in the Middle East would be a matter of the gravest concern."
"In 1969, in the thick of
the ABM debate, Wohlstetter summoned Wolfowitz and Richard Perle, another protégé, to help him gather the information he needed to wage the Safeguard ABM system campaign. Housed in the offices of Sen. Henry Scoop Jackson, a Washington State Democrat and military hawk, Wolfowitz and Perle conducted interviews and drafted a report.
"Wohlstetter's two young
acolytes were quickly immersed in the world of Washington politics. Wolfowitz entered government service as a junior officer
in the Middle East section of the Defense Department and quickly rose through the ranks to head the Arms Control and Disarmament
Agency under Presidents Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter."
During the Clinton administration, Wolfowitz formulated a new foreign policy with regard to Iraq and other "potential aggressor states", dismissing "containment" in favor of "preemption"; strike first to eliminate threats.
Clinton, along with Bush Senior, Colin L. Powell, and other former Bush administration officials, dismissed calls for "preemption" in favor of continued "containment." This
was the policy of George Walker Bush as well for his first several months in office. Many saw Wolfowitz'z plan as a "blueprint
for US hegemony" and his "preemption" policy remained contained until the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 revived hawkish advocacy for defending by attacking."
Bush administration: Act II
- Following the
2004 presidential election, political pundits speculated on Wolfowitz's role during Bush's second term. On November 4, 2004,
CBS News' David Paul Kuhn wrote:
-
- John R. Bolton’s "boss", Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, was considered as a "possible
replacement" for Condoleezza Rice. "An architect of the war in Iraq, Wolfowitz has been under fire by Democrats for the lack of postwar planning. The
national security adviser does not need to be confirmed by the Senate, so Democratic disdain for Wolfowitz would not be a
factor. ...
Bolton, Wolfowitz, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, "have come to define a Bush doctrine of bold diplomacy. And if, as is likely,
neoconservatives return to favor at the White House, they could stand to gain."
"Political Consultant"
- "The PNAC
and the Defense Industry, Or a Slight Case of Overbombing"--as of July 24, 2003.
"Wolfowitz's largest source of income was as co-chairman, with former Senate Armed Services Committee chairman Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), of Hughes Electronics Nunn-Wolfowitz Task Force, for which he was paid $300,000.
The task force analyzed Hughes' compliance with U.S. export restrictions on high technology goods. He was also a dean and
professor at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, which earned him an additional $247,000.
He earned another $55,000 in speaking fees from several groups, including JP Morgan, the Heritage Foundation, Hudson Institute, and Syracuse University. Wolfowitz also managed
to stay busy doing consulting work for BP Amoco, Northrop Grumman and The Limited Service Corporation, as well as being on the board of directors for Hasbro and financial services company
Dreyfus, as well as several non-profit groups; his consulting and board fees totaled nearly $130,000. Wolfowitz's largest
single asset is Hasbro deferred compensation worth as much as $250,000."
Writing in 2003 for Foreign Policy In Focus, Conn Hallinan said that less than one year before the U.S. presidential election, 2004:
"According to the Center for Political Integrity, nine out of 30 past and present members of the influential Defense Policy Board,
had ties to defense firms with $76 billion in DOD contracts.
"The list is a veritable 'who's who' in the Bush Administration: ...
"Representing Northup Grumman is White House Chief of Staff, I. Lewis Libby, (consultant); Under Secretary of Defense Douglas Feith (legal client); Deputy Sec. Of Defense Paul Wolfowitz (consultant); Air Force Secretary
James G. Roche (former president), and Air Force Assistant Secretary Nelson Gibbs (comptroller)."
Failing Grade in Math 101. Not
good news for a prospective banker.
- Maureen Dowd wrote
September 28, 2003, in the New York Times Op-Ed "Drunk on Rummy" observations on the then-to-be-published book written by Midge Decter about Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld:
"As riveting as Midge finds Rummy, it is her description of Paul Wolfowitz as a 'former mathematician' that
riveted me. The whole attitude of Rummy and Wolfie at Congressional hearings was 'Barbie hates math.' They couldn't come up
with a concrete number for anything.
"Skeptical, I checked and discovered that Wolfie's father was a mathematician from Cornell (Jacob Wolfowitz) who specialized in probability and statistics; he hoped his son would follow in
his footsteps, considering political science on a par with astrology.
"Instead, his son chose the field of obscuring probability and statistics, refusing to cooperate with lawmakers
to add up how much the war was going to cost in dollars and troops and years, or to multiply the probable exponential problems
of remaking the Middle East, or even to subtract the billions that were never coming from snubbed allies.
"I guess Wolfie never calculated the division in America his omissions would cause when we finally got a load of
the bill -- including $100 million to hide the families of 100 Iraqis in the witness protection program, $19 million for post
office Wi-Fi, $50 million for traffic cops and $9 million for ZIP codes. At these prices, the Baghdad ZIP better be 90210."
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