This is not new news, but that doesn't make it worth ignoring. Some of the most powerful people in the world apparently think committing genocide is just too arduous at present; but perhaps they can make it easier in the future?

Although under-reported in the mainstream, many people may be aware of a think-tank called the Project for a New American Century (PNAC). In their words, their fundamental tenets are such that "American leadership is good both for America and for the world; and that such leadership requires military strength, diplomatic energy and commitment to moral principle."

Most of which is highly questionable, and "moral principle" must be some subtle attempt at irony.

They produced a major report called Rebuilding America's Defenses essentially about how the US should develop its military to take over the world good and proper. One highlight is to be found in a section entitled "Transforming US Conventional Forces". This is not transforming as in turning them into some lovely peace-loving liberals or other such stuff of neo-con nightmares, but rather all sorts of things to exert dominance over the world - and indeed beyond. Not least the development of "advanced forms of biological warfare that can 'target' specific genotypes". Yes, this would be the same category of weapon which is good enough to fake a reason to go to war over, with the added bonus of it being designed to only kill/maim people with specific genetic makeups; say people with red hair - or perhaps more realistically given the authors of the report, people who don't have white skin.

So what do these heavy-weight intellectuals consider the implications of developing this sort of weapon, the like of which such notable historical characters as Adolf Hitler would have no doubt lusted after? No, not aghast horror at the thought of it, but rather that it "may transform biological warfare from the realm of terror to a politically useful tool." Lovely...well if it might be useful to them it must be OK. How could anyone be worried?

Aha, naive readers may be thinking, don't worry about it, these guys are clearly just some sort of facist crackpots spouting jibberish for anyone who can be bothered to read it. Well, without necessarily ruling out that possibility, it should be noted that the PNAC members have included Donald Rumsfield, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz and many other people who have served or currently serve in the current US Bush Administration; and hence - in outward appearances at any rate - essentially rule the world. This gang have already got away with engineering a war in Iraq where they used weapons made from nuclear material, chemical weapons and napalm equivalents causing any number of civillian-based "collateral damage". It's hard to imagine they'd rule anything out.