"Pre-Emptive Wars"

A remarkable essay by Frederick Forsyth at The San-Deigo Union-Tribune, yesterday:

.... Sept. 11 happened to coincide with a new, tough, no-nonsense and hugely underestimated (by Europe's intellectual snobs) president. Under Bush the United States thought things over and came back with a reply.

Broadly, it is this: "What the devil are we supposed to do? We have no choice. You leave us no choice. For 50 years of Cold War we practiced deterrence and kept the Soviet threat at bay. Even in their most paranoid moments, the Politburo did not want to die. But you do not fear death; you welcome it. So be it.

"We Americans can either sit and wait for the next bomb, the next carnage, the next wipeout of our citizens and then try to track down the perpetrators. Or we can identify you and use our considerable resources to hunt you down and take you 'out of the frame' before you strike, not after.

"That is called pre-emption, and that is what we choose to do." ....

(Thanks, Matthew.)

Lane Core Jr. CIW P — Mon. 09/08/03 11:56:05 AM
Categorized as International.