by Gary Leupp

CounterPunch

02/28/05

According to Gen. Wesley Clark, a senior U.S. military officer told him in the Pentagon as early as November 2001 that the administration planned, following the invasion of Iraq, to conduct campaigns throughout the Middle East and beyond. 'Oh yes, sir, not only is it Afghanistan. There's a list of countries. We're not that good at fighting terrorists, so we're going after states: Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia and Iran. There's a five-year plan.' We're in the fourth year of that plan, which proceeds apace. Afghanistan and Iraq are conquered, dotted with U.S. military bases designed to be permanent. Libya's been removed from the target list, due to some canny machinations on Col. Muammar Qadhafi's part, and Somalia's drawing less attention than Sudan. But Syria, Lebanon and Iran remain very much in the crosshairs...

http://www.counterpunch.org/leupp02282005.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp