Four Corners – American Dreamers (2003)

As the world waits for the inevitable invasion of Iraq, Jonathan Holmes takes us to Washington, where the Neo-cons have at last come into their own. The tragedy of 9/11 has allowed their radical views about American foreign policy to be heard. They insist that Saddam Hussein is the key to terrorism in the Middle East and that a pre-emptive strike is the only way to prevent this tyrant from using his weapons of mass destruction to attack the US and its allies.

This Four Corners story created a stir when it was first broadcast early in 2003. Most Australians had never heard of the term ‘Neo-con’ or of its powerful influence in US politics, although some of the players like Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Pearl had become well known over many years for their writing and outspoken views from the far right of American foreign policy.

Jonathan Holmes presents a compelling picture of the power of the Neo-cons to influence George W Bush, the first Republican US President for a number of years, and the push to apply their philosophy of using US forces to strike down any totalitarian regime in the world in order to establish Western-style democracy in its place.