The Rise and Fall of the Neocons

A blast from the past:

PNAC released [another] letter on April 3, 2002. This second letter focused largely on US policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. PNAC chairman William Kristol, Weekly Standard editor and prominent neo-conservative scion, collected the signatures of 34 like-minded power players, including a good slice of the membership of Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld's Defense Policy Board (DPB).

[...]

The letter urged Bush to sever all ties with the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO's) Yasser Arafat and to "lend full support to Israel as it seeks to root out the terrorist network that daily threatens the lives of Israeli citizens". Said the letter: "Mr President, it can no longer be the policy of the United States to urge, much less to pressure, Israel to continue negotiating with Arafat, any more than we would be willing to be pressured to negotiate with Osama bin Laden or Mullah Omar." It added: "Israel's fight against terrorism is our fight. Israel's victory is an important part of our victory." For good measure, the letter reiterated PNAC's call "for removing Saddam Hussein from power".

Read the whole thing here:Neocon Rise and Fall.