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Is Nightline About To Do A Whitewash On The Project For The New American Century Or Expose The Bush Cabal ?

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NIGHTLINE NEWS ALERT:

TONIGHT'S FOCUS: Several years ago, when President Clinton was still in the White House, and 9/11 was still not even a nightmare in anyone's mind, a group of mostly Republicans wrote a letter outlining a foreign policy strategy that involved regime change in Iraq, by force if necessary.  Now
that several of those Republicans are in key positions in the Administration, some critics of the White House's current Iraq policy smell something fishy.


The Project for the New American Century.  Never heard of it?  Well, don't
feel bad.  Few have.  But have you heard of Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld
or Paul Wolfowitz?  Back in 1997, those three out-of-office politicians
and several other like-minded, mostly conservatives, were frustrated with
American foreign policy.  So they formed this new organization and a year
later wrote a letter to then-President Bill Clinton calling for a
"comprehensive political and military strategy for bringing down Saddam
and his regime."

Today, a 76-page paper written by the organization reads like a blueprint
for the policy being carried out largely by Vice President Dick Cheney,
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul
Wolfowitz.  In fact, of the 40 people who signed that letter, 10 are
currently in the Administration.

Is this a case of democracy in action?  Influential thinkers who became
policy makers?  Or is it, as some international critics of the White
House's policy on Iraq have argued, a secretive organization pulling the
strings of the President, with an imperialistic goal of dominating the
world?  Are these criticisms legitimate?

Tonight ABC News correspondent Jackie Judd will explore this conspiracy
theory, and the influence and role of the Project for the New American
Century.  Ted Koppel will then speak with the Project's founder and
chairman, Bill Kristol, who served in both the first Bush and the Reagan
Administrations.

Also tonight we'll have another report from correspondent Mike Cerre with
Marine Company Fox 2/5 in Kuwait.  After 19 days in the desert, they got a
shower and a hot meal.  But more importantly, they also received their
plans for their role in an invasion, if and when one is ordered.  After
months of training for war, they now know just what they're going to do.

And finally, Nightline's Chris Bury is in Kuwait this evening, the main
staging area for the American invasion should it come.  He'll give us the
latest news of the military's preparations.

We hope you'll join us.


Sara Just and the Nightline staff
Senior Producer
ABC News NIGHTLINE

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