Neo-conservatism from the Start: Big Government, Pro-War

Vice President Cheney with National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice in the President’s Emergency Operations Center (PEOC)

At The American Conservative, Jack Hunter explains how Bill Kristol and other neocons used the now defunct Weekly Standard and other media outlets to silence anti-war feelings on the right. Hunter details Pat Buchanan’s opposition to neo-conservatism from the start. It has been explained by Buchanan and others, most notably former Congressman Ron Paul during his presidential campaigns, that the war machine demands big government. Taxes and bureaucrats are integral parts of running a war. Each missile fired is more millions of tax-dollars destroyed. Hunter writes:

When The American Conservative launched in 2002, co-founder Pat Buchanan explained why it was needed: “there is no doubt the neocons have come to define the conservative movement, which bothers me. They do not represent traditional conservatism.”

“Commentary, National Review and The Weekly Standard are nearly interchangeable in terms of foreign policy and empire,” said Buchanan. “It’s all degenerating into outright imperialism.”

“This is not conservatism,” he insisted.

Buchanan was right, of course. What was considered “conservative” back then was almost exclusively neo-conservatism in all its pro-war, big government glory. Support for the invasion of Iraq and George W. Bush were strict litmus tests. White House speechwriter David Frum even attempted to cast out the small minority of conservatives and libertarians who questioned the neocon status quo.

For anyone who opposed the war—and especially dissenters on the Right—there would be no mercy. Bill Kristol never had any intention of showing any.