The Bush administration planned rolling regime change across the Middle East

Evidence

During its first term, the Bush administration built a “coalition of the willing” to invade Iraq, rejecting criticisms from allies it derogatorily labeled “old Europe.” The Bush administration planned to carry out rolling regime changes throughout the region to install quisling governments obedient to Washington’s dictates. One senior British official close to the administration captured this imperial plan in a characteristic masculinist pose16 of the era: “Everyone wants to go to Baghdad. Real men want to go to Tehran.” — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 489

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s knowledge of the Iraq War and neoconservatism; the ‘Real men want to go to Tehran’ quote is a usable primary source snip. — connects to: The Bush Doctrine was a plan to secure US global hegemony through preemptive war. — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of…, 485; US posture in the Middle East turned openly imperial after the 2001 attacks — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 990; The Iraq War’s failure forced Bush to abandon regime-change plans and adopt counterinsurgency (+1 more)

Broader Connections

• US posture in the Middle East turned openly imperial after the 2001 attacks #corroborates (0.88) — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 990
• The Iraq War’s failure forced Bush to abandon regime-change plans and adopt counterinsurgency #qualifies (0.82)
• The Bush administration planned to consolidate most forces on a few enormous main bases. #expands (0.75) — David Vine, Base Nation_ How U.S. Military Bases…, 134