Gość: JULIUSZ
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21.09.02, 17:22
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BUSH'S MEIN KAMPF
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Bush vows to snuff out potential enemies
US plans for pre-emptive strikes
Oliver Burkeman in New York and Nick Paton Walsh in Moscow
Saturday September 21, 2002
The Guardian
The United States will not hesitate to strike pre-emptively
against its enemies, even if it faces international opposition,
and will never again allow its military supremacy to be
threatened by a rival superpower, President George Bush declared
yesterday in a document setting out an aggressive new vision for
America's foreign policy.
"As a matter of common sense and self-defence, America will act
against such emerging threats before they are fully formed," Mr
Bush wrote in the introduction to a text which bears the
unmistakeable imprint of the hawks in his administration -
Vice-President Dick Cheney, the national security adviser,
Condoleezza Rice, and Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary -
and takes a sceptical view of multilateral action and
international treaties.
"History will judge harshly those who saw this coming danger but
failed to act," Mr Bush writes in the national security strategy
of the United States, a document he is required to submit to
Congress. "In the new world we have entered, the only path to
peace and security is the path of action."
Overturning the Truman doctrine of containment and deterrence
which dominated the cold war, the 34-page paper - the first
attempt by the administration to sketch a comprehensive rationale
for its foreign policy after September 11 - locates the greatest
danger to America in failing states and terrorist cells which
"hate the US" and cannot simply be dissuaded from attacking.
"Traditional concepts of deterrence will not work against a
terrorist enemy whose avowed tactics are wanton destruction and
the targeting of innocents," it says.
The US will strike against its enemies even if its allies or the
UN do not back its efforts, the text emphasized. "While the US
will constantly strive to enlist the support of the international
community, we will not hesistate to act alone," it said.
That is in stark contrast to Bill Clinton's version, which saw
international coalitions as the only hope for addressing
financial and military instabilities around the globe.
This comes at a crucial time for Mr Bush, who is wrangling with
the UN on the issue of Iraq and waiting for Congress to vote -
possibly in early October - on his proposed wording for a
resolution authorising the use of force against Saddam Hussein.
Mr Rumsfeld had put forward the idea of pre-emptive action in a
speech in January which Mr Bush echoed in June.
Above all, the US will not allow anyone to close the military
lead it has established since the Soviet Union collapsed. The
document says: "Our forces will be strong enough to dissuade
potential adversaries from pursuing a military build-up in hope
of surpassing, or equalling, the power of the United States."
The text goes on to say that non-proliferation treaties, a
central plank of efforts to slow the cold war arms race, have
failed because countries including Iraq have weapons of mass
destruction.
The document swats away the international criminal court in one
brief paragraph. Its jurisdiction "does not extend to Americans",
it says.
Officials reportedly said Mr Bush edited the text to avoid
sounding "overbearing and arrogant".
Mr Bush's critics may welcome an enhanced focus on international
aid - Washington intends to increase by half aid to countries
that can prove they are using it to promote economic freedom, to
fight Aids and boost education.
As Washington digested all of this, Mr Bush turned to the
alliance-building he has treated so ambivalently, joining Tony
Blair in a diplomatic offensive to secure the Kremlin's support
for action against Iraq.
Late Thursday, Mr Blair rang President Vladimir Putin, who
repeated his opposition to unilateral military action and to a
new UN resolution. Talking to Mr Bush yesterday, according to a
Kremlin spokesperson, "Putin emphasized that the current
situation calls for deploying a UN inspection and monitoring
mission in Iraq as soon as possible". Mr Putin is thought to have
advocated that an inspection team be deployed within the week to
end the standoff between Baghdad and Washington.
The US president then met Igor Ivanov, the foreign minister, and
Sergei Ivanov, the defence minister.
The Itar-Tass news agency quoted Mr Ivanov as saying Russia's
position depended on what information Washington could provide
about Saddam Hussein's weapons - implying flexibility in Moscow's
position - but that confirmation could only come from inspectors
"on the spot".
Guardian Unlimited Š Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002
