Bush Doctrine of Pre-Emption Sets Irresponsible Precedent

[Guest guest]

Senator Edward M. Kennedy

Delivered on the Floor of the US Senate

The Bush Doctrine of Pre-Emption

Monday, 7 October, 2002

We face no more serious decision in our democracy than whether or not to go to

war. The American people deserve to fully understand all of the implications of

such a decision.

The question of whether our nation should attack Iraq is playing out in the

context of a more fundamental debate that is only just beginning -- an

all-important debate about how, when and where in the years ahead our country

will use its unsurpassed military might.

On September 20, the Administration unveiled its new National Security Strategy.

This document addresses the new realities of our age, particularly the

proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and terrorist networks armed with

the agendas of fanatics. The Strategy claims that these new threats are so

novel and so dangerous that we should "not hesitate to act alone, if necessary,

to exercise our right of self-defense by acting pre-emptively."

But in the discussion over the past few months about Iraq, the Administration,

often uses the terms "pre-emptive" and "preventive" interchangeably. In the

realm of international relations, these two terms have long had very different

meanings.

Read the whole article at http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/10.09A.kennedy.htm#

--JIA