President Bush released a new national security strategy Thursday, the first update since the eve of the invasion of Iraq, and the document still champions the controversial Bush doctrine of pre-emptive war — striking perceived enemies before they initiate hostilities. But the Iraq debacle — perhaps the greatest U.S. strategic blunder in a generation — points to a fatal weakness of pre-emption, and why it must be used only as a last resort: It relies heavily on good intelligence, and Iraq proved just how unreliable our intelligence is.
As one strategic expert told The Washington Post, “Pre-emption is and always will be a potentially useful tool, but it’s not something you want to trot out and throw in everybody’s face. To have a strategy on pre-emption and make it central is a huge error.”
Posted by Randy Scholfield
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56 Comments
The whole idea was to make Israel safer, but the preemptive strike on Iraq has, in fact, factored in a much higher threat of retaliation against both Israel and the United States. An attack on Iran will almost guarantee a retaliation against both.
The American People are trying to tell its government that it’s taking the country in the wrong direction, but it seems Washington hasn’t learned its lesson yet, while taking us ever deeper into an unwinnable war.
The erroneous assumption is that we can’t live with a nuclear Iran. That’s wrong.
The groundwork is to make peace with the Arabs. That removes the threat, as Iran has only its own defence in mind, not expansion.
Iran has only assumed a defensive posture and is offering no offensive threat. That should be capitalized on by reversing our foreign policy, bringing Iran under our protective wing.
The American People and the world for that matter are right. The United States is being herded in the wrong direction.
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n06/mear01_.html
I keep hearing, “He own has three more years…All we have to do is put up with Bush for three more years!”. This is not about politics, it is not about Republican or Democrat, right or left. It is about America, at this point let Israel be damned and take the rest of the world with it! It is our best interest that should come first, not the mad vision of one small group that finally made it to the Presidency. Not the best interests of a small country thousands of miles away. But the best interests of the United States of the Americas, nothing I repeat nothing this man and the deranged group of war-hawks that control him is doing what is best for the U.S.We have a right to defend our self, but attacking other when they “might” sometime in the unforeseen future be a real and present danger. Does not prevent war, it bring war to the door step! Because it will be that WE are the aggressor not the country that we attack.
Oh what a tar baby we have gotten, to follow a road of our making that leads to a down fall of this great nation . Following a mad man and the deranged group that control him to a end of that road that arrives at chaos. Or take this country back from the deranged and literally tear our government apart leaving a hole in it when there is still an enemy wanting us to fail. But what should we do? Leave the deranged in place and hope that they can be control? When they control the government, the military and the purse strings of our government!
But to take them out would leave a gaping wound and a vacuum at the top of the government. At a time when this country not since world war two has needed a rock solid leadership in place.
Damn Bush and the deranged group that controls, damn Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda for what both have done to us! Damn the American people who set unaware, thinking more of what happens on their favorite TV. show then what is happening to this country!
The devil would have their souls if they have a soul to be taken?
writerdog,Excellant post. People take government for granted because they then don’t have to think about it. If they don’t have to think about it, why care what they do?
Bring our troops home NOW, and leave the country to the seventh centry fanatics. I doesn’t matter that they have a constitution now. When we do leave, it will revert to some mindless religious state anyway. Why risk more American lives for a society mired in factional wars that have kept it in the dark ages?
“Bush pre-emption doctrine failed in Iraq”So how is this any different from anything else we’ve gotten from Bush? Pre-emption is the ultimate paranoia. And they’re doing it to us again with Iran. Look for Iran to become a huge issue as we run up to the elections. Fear works for the GOP. Look for the administration to trot out more terror alerts, maybe detonate a tactical device off the coast and claim it was a foiled terrorist plot hatched by the Iranians.
These people will stop at nothing.
How about a policy of pre-emption geared toward figuring out and addressing the things we are doing to piss so many folks off?
Awww but that just employs a few diplomats.
War is big buisiness. When America “elected” a cardboard cut out, frontman shill for big buisiness, did we have a right to expect any different?
Fortrunately, public opinion seems to be swinging toward the “conservative” (in the true sense of that word) use of our military.
bush is gonna need something like you mentioned XXX to justify another military adventure. And like you, I put nothing past these people.
As to Iraq. We are continaully told that the overwhelming number of people there want the change we are trying to bring. They also want us out. I say give them both. Set a deadline. You have this long to get ready to handle your affairs. Then leave it up to them.
Oh America invaded Iraq! Boo hoo hoo! It’s soooo sad! Yeah, that happened like 3 years ago, get over it!
We need peace with the Arabs and the first step is not disrespecting them. Disrespecting the Palestinians has, in large part, brought us to this point and a clean break with that attitude is a good starting place.
Ed,Why don’t you go fight for your precious Palestinians then?
Too Much coffee?
Careful Ed, he’s already threatened to kill you.
CruX is a troll.
The Bush/Iraq poll in todays’ paper confirmed what I had suspected, Kansas #’s are just about the inverse of the rest of the Nation. Poor Backward, backwater Kansas.
XXX,
To be precise, CrusaderX is a dumbfuck. From his words, one senses he would defend fetuses and allow American service personnel and Iraqi civilians to burn. Once they’re born, they’re someone else’s problem.
Exactly, CF. I gave the guy credit for being a serious contributor at first, but he’s shown otherwise. I think your term for him is right on the mark.
CF is just mad cause for all he’s worth he has to wake up every morning and find out he’s just a college professor who has no indelible impact on the future of this country. :)
And then he goes on this BLOG to defend the liberal viewpoint which he believes is doing a great contribution to American society! Wow, CF, you really have done so much more for this country than the typical American serviceman! I want to be just like you!
You see the problem with Leftist liberal scum is that they are either 1) Communists (Hegel) 2) NAMBLA advocates (Ksfarmgirl) 3) College professors who think that what they say on a BLOG is gonna change the way this country operates. (every liberal WEBlogger)
Tell me where I’m wrong??
Crux, why go to wrong when we can discuss stupid? You’d have to be capable of advancing a sane idea (and you’re obviously not) to argue whether you’re right or wrong. Offer a credible idea and stop foaming at the mouth.
Laugh at the silly, strange litte man.
I don’t know if this word already exists. Maybe I am not the first to think of it.
The word, is Blogfart. Crusader X is helping me to define it.
Well, Blogfart CrusaderX, I am not a Communist, not NAMBLA, and not a college professor.
But, I see that you are just a whiney little baby hiding behind your death threats and your big-sounding name.
Go get your diaper changed.
Yeah Ben and this is what he does when he GETS attention.
I gotta wonder what glimpses into his surreal addled brain we would get if he thought we were ignoring him.
Blogfart; noun 1.A sudden and unpredictable explosion of noxious or unpleasant words or opinions. 2. One who engages in offensive or vulgar posts for the purpose of getting attention. see also troll.3. A poster generally considered to be silly or irrelevant..
That will do for a start.
The self-important American Taliban sounds defensive, methinks.
Must have something to do with the refusal of any human female to let him anywhere near her pearly gates. No wonder he’s for Rapist Rights.
More to the point, little man, by attending law school rather than enlisting as you seem to think I should, you are EXACTLY trying to be just like me. The difference is that whereas my job is to make an impact on the minds of my students, yours will probably be merely rapacious and self-serving.
You KNOW CrusaderX has jumped the shark when the normally even-handed Ben Huie lets him have it.
CrusaderX, come back when they let you wear long pants.
Yikes,
I go away for a few days and all semblance of civility and decorum have vanished. I always assumed that I would be the recipient of the first death threat, dang it! rotflmosrfao
Viva La Raza Blanco!!
Ian Santiago,
Everybody here knows better than to kill you and create YET ANOTHER fascist martyr. It’s like that old song by Cracker:
“What the world needs now, is another folk singerLike I need a hole in my head”
Besides, even the stopped clock named Ian Santiago can be right, even if not always twice a day.
CF,Ya, but if the clock is running backwards, does anybody care? I’m afraid Ian will forever be stuck in the fourties.
Vivat la Race Humaine
Ya know, when I think about crusaderX, which constitutes about 1/100th of 1% of my daily time, or more precisely .37ms, I came to the conclusion the X is supposed to be striking through the crusader. You know, like the don’t do this international signs?
Which would mean he is incapable of crusading for anything, but isn’t that what we have figured out anyway? Sheesh . . . redundancy.
Ooohhh! The big bad Leftist scum are planning to IGNORE me! What’s the difference? You almost never attack the issue and instead go straight for me! But, sorry I really don’t care about civility when dealing with irrational animals! Neither do I care about keeping within the bounds of “political correctness.” This is still a free country, and I will say EXACTLY what is on my mind!
So ya’ll can just SUCK IT!!!
That’s one observation C M and a good one.
Another would be that he is a brand x or anonymous crusader.
Now to my knowledge, a crusade is at least perceived as a noble cause (at least by the crusader) Generally such folk are not given to anonymity or generics.
The poster formerly recognized as crusaderx has done us one good service this day, he has helped me define a new title.
By way of recognition for that service, I hereby appoint the former crusaderx as Blogfart the 1st!
JR,Is that the best you can do? Resort to infantile namecalling? HA! You have done me a great service by nominating you as the Chief of the Politically Correct Police!!!
Sorry,,,,,,
His coronation was supposed to PRECEED his first decree.
Cruex – “infantile namecalling?”
“Leftist scum” “ya’ll can just SUCK IT!!!:ya’ll can just SUCK IT!!!” “Leftist liberal scum”
Yep – definitely “infantile namecalling”!
Blogfart, isn’t it a little late for you to be up?
I’ve been watching your posts all afternoon/evening and I gotta say, you must be dummer than a bag of hammers. Your rants get more comical by the minute.
“This is still a free country, and I will say EXACTLY what is on my mind!”
I figure that’ll take about 30 seconds.
Most of what seems to be on your mind is pretty purile.
CruX is going to give us a piece of his mind. Somebody get a teaspoon.
You saying EXACTLY what’s on your mind is like flushing a toilet.
CruX is going to give us the benefit of his knowlege and vast experience. Don’t bother with the teaspoon.
Why is CruX like a fly?Because he eats $hit and bothers people.
Well said X. Damn hilariously said too.
Thanks JR, but I’ll never reach your level of comic delivery.
What are you kidding? That upthread was killer! I just named him. You took him apart.
Most of the time, people on this blog are very civil. We disagree, of course, but I’ve never seen such a level of nastiness like this ganging up on CruX.
Frankly, I don’t see why people don’t have a bigger problem with the blatant racist of the blog. I mean, that’s just disgusting.
God forbid, what if someone pre-emptively attacked us because they thought we were an imminent threat? Would that be wrong? If we fought back, would we be insurgents, terrorists or patriots?
Tara, some of us have a real problem with people who make death threats. I also don’t appreciate a blogger who addresses us as “Fu*king morons”. Maybe that kind of thing is a turn on for you, but it leaves me cold.
You need to go back and read the guy’s posts. He’s rabid.
Right, I forgot about the death threat. That was absolutely nasty.
I find the mindless ranting amusing at times, I admit. I look at the time stamps and think there might be cocktails involved. Heh, drunkblogging. I should try it sometime :)
Tara? Do you also go by “Hegel”?
No, I was joking about that in the open thread. This is the only name I use.
Whew! Glad to hear it. That means I can tear into that dipwick.
Might I suggest “Blogfart the Bloviated”, or is that too well defined?
CrusaderX made a death threat? And he claims to be a law student? That’s actionable. Is it still in a thread somewhere?
There’s a liability issue here that the editors ought to observe.
“CruX is going to give us a piece of his mind. Somebody get a teaspoon.”
XXX, I am rolling on the floor at that comment. Too funny. And JR, you named him correctly. JM and CF, rock on dudes. I thought it was just me. Glad to know he is an equal opportunity hater.
Doesnt “pre-emption” translate as:
“do unto others before they can even THINK about doing unto you”?
Just wondering…
CF, I don’t think the editors ever did take the death threat down. I think it was week before last. You should be able to find it in the archives.
Pre-emptive attack was what Japan did to us at Pearl Harbor. Remember how we felt about that? “December 7, 1941, the date that will live in infamy”? The New York Times ran a headline that said simply, “The Dirty Little Bastards!”
When we do it, it’s fine. It’s good, in fact.
Because we’re so special, we don’t have to follow all that silly “do unto to others” crap. We do what we want, and then we can’t understand why “they hate us for our freedoms.”
PL, Of course we can do it: we have God on our side. Just ask Bush, Cheney, Phelps, KBOE, Kansas legislature, South Dekota, Kansas Repukes, Tom DeLay, Carl Rove, Rush Limburger . . .
. . . And Ann Coultsfootinmouth. How could I forget her?
XXX, thanks for the tip. Guess that’s what I get for skipping over the mad rantings.
XXX,
They did take the death threat down. I only saw mention of it in the thread when I got back yesterday.
V.L.R.B!!
These Iraqis were on the way to install much needed water pipes. See pipes in truck.
http://www.warblogging.com/illustrations/iz.thumbnail
Are you sure those weren’t aluminum tubes used to enrich uranium? That’s what Colin Powell claimed!
Ian, it took them long enough. Destroy the evidence….
XXX,
I still find the whole episode to be bizzare. I wonder what the set him off?
V.L.R.B!!