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Romney Gives Bush Neocons Another Chance

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As Rachel Maddow reported this Friday, on the 10th anniversary of the start of the war in Afghanistan, Mitt Romney decided to announce the members of his national security advisory team, and as she noted, of the twenty two people he named, fifteen of them are people who worked on foreign policy for the George W. Bush administration, and around a half dozen of them are former members of the neoconservative think tank and now defunct, PNAC, or The Project for the New American Century.

Apparently Mitt Romney thinks it's a good idea to make all that's old new again with bringing in a bunch of neoconservative war mongers to advise him on matters of national security. If Mitt Romney thinks running as George W. Bush 2.0 on national security issues with the mood of the country being what it is right now after all the money and lives that have been wasted with the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, I've got to wonder what bubble this man is living in.

From The Washington Post -- Mitt Romney taps foreign policy, national security advisers -- here's some of the list of those Romney has tapped to join his team:

Cofer Black, Vice President of Blackbird Technologies; Director of the CIA Counter-Terrorism Center (1999-2002); United States Department of State Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism (2002-2004)

Christopher Burnham, Vice Chairman of Deutsche Bank Asset Management; United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Management (2005-2006); United States Under Secretary of State for Management (2001-2005)

Michael Chertoff, Chairman of the Chertoff Group; United States Secretary of Homeland Security (2005-2009); Judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (2003-2005)

Eliot Cohen, Director of the Strategic Studies Program at the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University; Counselor to the United States Department of State (2007-2009); Defense Policy Advisory Board Member (2001-2009)

Norm Coleman, Chairman of the Board, American Action Network; Adviser to the Republican Jewish Coalition; United States Senator (R-MN) (2003-2009)

John Danilovich, Member of the Trilantic European Advisory Council; CEO of Millennium Challenge Corporation (2005-2009); Ambassador to Brazil (2004-2005); Ambassador to Costa Rica (2001-2004)

Paula Dobriansky, Senior Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs (2001-2009)

Eric Edelman, Visiting Scholar at School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University; Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (2005-2009); Principal Deputy Assistant to the Vice President for National Security Affairs (2001-2003)

Michael Hayden, Principal of the Chertoff Group; Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (2006-2009); Director of the National Security Agency (1999-2005)

Here's the full list from Romney's campaign site.

And for more on PNAC, here's Source Watch's site on them -- Project for the New American Century.

As Rachel noted, The Project for the New American Century has folded now, but their web site is still up for anyone who wants to revisit just how wrong they were about everything. Sadly as she reported, they're back under a new name -- The Foreign Policy Initiative -- which has less much visibility now for obvious reasons, but that somehow didn't stop Romney from making the decision to bring these people in to advise him on his political campaign and to bring them back into the spotlight.

MADDOW: With the greatest American failure in American policy hung around their necks. With the Project for a New American Century, neocon, fantasy a punchline now, Mitt Romney as a presidential candidate has decided to embrace them.

I'm at a loss for why he thinks this is a good idea, but that said, given Romney's flip-flops on so many issues, I'm not going to try to figure out who he thought he should be pandering to that would get him elected with this latest move.

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27 Comments
snewkirk's picture

Romney, you Kochsucker

Captain Kangaroo's picture

How about Condi Rice as Secretary of State? Bring back Rumsfeld as Secretary of Defense? What's next, Alan Greenspan as his economic adviser? Henry Paulson as the Treasury secretary? Mitt Romney is a shithead but better than "Jim" Perry or Herb Cain?

for Sec of the Treasury. Let's go all in.


Janek

Turk's picture

Worst President ever, worst Vice-President ever, worst Secretary of State ever, worst Secretary of Defense ever, worst Attorney General ever, but I digest...

It's a sad state when all these criminals are allowed to go free and remain gainfully engaged, yet try to smoke a little pot in CA for your malady. I hate to say it, but Obama sucks, too!


Turk Meister

Excelsior's picture

You're joking, right? Get a clue, kid.


There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits

Turk's picture

GWB and his merry band of torturers, warmongers and fiscal psychopaths were the worst ever. Besides, I'm not a kid.


Turk Meister

CafeenMan's picture

Why do you think he's kidding? If Bush wasn't the worst ever he's certainly in the running. There will be arguments for generations about who the worst president was and Bush will always be one of the contenders.

gogetem's picture

the "flies on the eyeballs" guy.

fastfeat's picture

Simple concept for the simply mindless.


"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."

---Southwest Airlines

(the go-to guy in an area in which you've been discredited)"

Well, Dick Scott in FL might disagree...


"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."

---Southwest Airlines

Edwin's picture

Anyone figured out what "winning" looks like yet. 10 years later and still a huge clusterfuck.


far left loon >.<

Mugsy's picture

Ask Charlie Sheen. He seems to know.

And look how well it's worked out for HIM.


* There are two types of Republicans: millionaires and suckers.
"Mugsy's Rap Sheet": Recording history for those who seek to rewrite it.

Mugsy's picture

Dunno if anyone else saw it, but in the same speech shown in this video of Romney addressing the troops, he openly attacks their Commander-in-Chief, saying:

"If you don't want a president that wants America to have the greatest Army on Earth, don't vote for me. You've already got that president."

I'm trying to imagine the HOWLS of protest had Kerry or Obama of disparaged Bush in front of active-duty troops.

I have the clip if anyone wants it.


* There are two types of Republicans: millionaires and suckers.
"Mugsy's Rap Sheet": Recording history for those who seek to rewrite it.

CafeenMan's picture

It's un-patriotic, seditious, treasonous and traitorous to disparage a sitting president in time of war (if the president is a Republican - if not then all those things are perfectly OK and it's all those things to NOT disparage the president).

thebewilderness's picture

They had a plan for Iran, and it looks like they still do.

Ape-Man's picture

Romney = Raving neo-con. Willard Romney is a PNAC whore.


"Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob"
-= Franklin Delano Roosevelt =-

Excelsior's picture

Really, it's so surprising. Who could have predicted this?

*eyeroll*


There's always free cheddar in the mousetrap, baby. - Tom Waits

Turk's picture

nobodycouldhavepredicted.blogspot.com


Turk Meister

Edwin's picture

The Neocons never really went anywhere, they're just not on TV right now. How many do you think you could find working in Washington?


far left loon >.<

ron's picture

still live, they still have a job with the neocons.

Kreskin's picture

And some progressives and liberals ask what's the difference if it's Obama or one of the Republicons in the White House ? Here's ANOTHER reason to bite the bullet and vote against the Republicon and vote Obama / Democrat .


Insanity , it is what it is , there is no understanding it .

Tax the Rich's picture

Mormon neocon = sure loser.

This guy has no chance whatsoever to get the nomination. If he were picked at the convention, he would get crushed in the general.

I don't know what would be more offensive to the rdneck imbeciles down south or in the midwest; a Massachusettes Mormon, or a black guy?


If I were a psychopath, I would join the republican party, and get in on the gravy train taking the Teabircher morons to the cleaners.

He was a wonderful man whose run for president was derailed when he said we were
"brainwashed" on Vietnam. His son is too power hungry to make that kind of a
mistake.


Ed-words

Patriot Actor's picture

leading the world huh?
Hmmm...that would require universal health care, funded education through university, and 6 weeks holiday for everyone.
Otherwise...still behind other great nations.

Patriot Actor's picture

be noted that the PNAC guys prayed for a 'new Pearl Harbor'.
And what do you know....

David F.'s picture

Sounds to me like the neocons are hedging their bets. Since it is obvious that they already own one side, Obama, they want to make sure there won't be any surprises from the other.

Or maybe, since Obama is already bought and paid for, Romney's neocon team will help him loose the election with bad advice. Maybe he'll make a wise decision, like McCain had, by selecting a well edjamacated person as his veep, or maybe something else. Let's watch and see.

Eric.Arthur.Blair's picture

I wonder how long it would be before we launch a pre-emptive war against Iran?

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