The Doctrine Of George Bush

10 Pages 2390 Words

“….Given the goals of rogue states and terrorists, the United States can no longer solely rely on a reactive posture as we have in the past. The inability to deter a potential attacker, the immediacy of today's threats, and the magnitude of potential harm that could be caused by our adversaries' choice of weapons, do not permit that option. We cannot let our enemies strike first….The United States has long maintained the option of pre-emptive actions to counter a sufficient threat to our national security. The greater the threat, the greater is the risk of inaction-and the more compelling the case for taking anticipatory action to defend ourselves, even if uncertainty remains as to the time and place of the enemy's attack. To forestall or prevent such hostile acts by our adversaries, the United States will, if necessary, act pre-emptively.” –those were the words from the Doctrine on the pre-emptive self-defense of the President George Bush, proclaimed on September 2002. Those words will later justify the military invasion of the US troops into Iraq, known as the “Iraqi Freedom Operation”. Many people believe that the measures taken by the US government were necessary and therefore absolutely excused, while others are convinced that the actions of the Bush administration contradict the international law. In the closer analysis it is seen that the Bush Doctrine of pre-emptive self-defense is inconsistent with the international law.

The Wikipedia (Free Encyclopedia) defines pre-emptive war as “waged in an attempt to repel or defeat an imminent offensive or invasion, or to gain strategic advantage in an impending (usually unavoidable) war.” Article 51 of the U.N. Charter acknowledges the right to self-defense "if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security." Do the definitions of Encyclopedia and of...