In September 2000, the neoconservative think tank Project for a New American Century released a document outlining its foreign policy vision. It called for the United States to use overwhelming military force to take control of the Persian Gulf region and for “maintaining global US preeminence . . . and shaping the international security order in line with American principles and interests.” This goal, the report went on to add, was going to take some time to be realized “absent some catastrophic event—like a new Pearl Harbor.” On September 11, 2001, such an event did occur—at a time when the neoconservative wing of the foreign policy establishment held powerful positions in the George W. Bush presidency.

XREF: Connects to the broader narrative of the Project for a New American Century anticipating a Pearl Harbor-like event that materialized as 9/11.

Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politi…, loc. 375