PNAC on NPR’s “Fresh Air”

This audio segment from April 1st’s Fresh Air program on National Public Radio starts with an excellent summation of the PNAC’s goals, as explained by Joseph Cirincione from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He’s opposed to the PNAC’s plan for the world, but he gives a pretty fair appraisal of the benefits that the PNAC folks claim to seek, which he follows with a very succinct statement of why he opposes them.

He outlines the development of the PNAC coalition, discussing the 1992 Defense Planning Guidance document drafted by Paul Wolfowitz, the 1998 letter written by PNAC members to President Clinton urging regime change in Iraq, the 2000 “Rebuilding America’s Defenses” report, and the 2001 National Security Strategy, as well as a number of other episodes that have come together to bring us to the U.S. foreign policy stance that we see today.

The next half of the segment features William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard and Chairman of the PNAC. He offers responses to many of the criticisms advanced by Mr. Cirincione, and answers host Terry Gross’ further questions.

The two segments together total about 45 minutes, and require either Real Player or Windows Media Player 9 in order to listen to them.

Joseph Cirincione and William Kristol on NPR’s “Fresh Air” with Terry Gross, April 1, 2003