Criminal Activity

Thanks to Greg, our Sydney correspondent. To even try to spread "democracy" through the world is itself a crime; by money or by force, an empire (in this case, the USA) is imposing its will on alien, sovereign territory. The longer the neo-cons refuse to see that this is going on, the longer they won't know the difference between right and wrong:

Back in May of 2000, toward the end of the Clinton administration, several AEI neocons signed on to a report entitled “Ending Syria’s Occupation of Lebanon: The U.S. Role,” including AEI Resident Fellow Richard Perle, AEI scholar Douglas Feith, and Iran-Contra criminal Elliot Abrams, all who would eventually play influential roles in the Bush administration. As Jordan Green writes, the report offered up by the neocon-packed Lebanon Study and co-authored by Ziad Abdelnour and Daniel Pipes “synthesizes ideas of American triumphalism, Christian exceptionalism, and fear of weapons of mass destruction.” In a section entitled “Policy Recommendations,” the neocon-influenced report suggests all “appropriations for Lebanon should be directed away from the Syrian-controlled government and in favor of credible private organizations and institutions—universities, schools, hospitals, and groups working in the areas of human rights, environmental issues, and so forth.”

NED has provided Lebanon with a “democracy promotion grant,” according to the organization’s web page. “In Lebanon, with authoritarian control of the central government, civic groups have been pressing for good governance and grassroots democracy at the local level,” claims another NED web page. “NED supported the Development and Municipality Studies Center in publishing and disseminating its newsletter on models of democratic and good governance, and the Lebanese Foundation for Permanent Civil Peace ran workshops to engage municipal leaders, civic organizations, and interested citizens to meet the challenges of local government.” In other words, NED is intervening directly in Lebanese civic and governmental affairs. NED, Rep. Ron Paul told the House of Representatives October 7, 2003, “through its recipient organizations the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI)… injects ’soft money’ into the domestic elections of foreign countries in favor of one party or the other.”