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USA, Iran and the doctrine of pre-emptive strike

The Bush-Obama Pre-Emption Doctrine By MICHAEL CROWLEY |  TIME | March 20, 2012 Writing at CNN.com, former CIA Director Michael Hayden, an adviser to Mitt Romney, makes a provocative point. If Barack Obama’s threat of military action to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon is serious, doesn’t that amount to a policy of… pre-emption?

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta probably gave the clearest administration statement when he said that if “we get intelligence that they’re proceeding with developing a nuclear weapon, then we will take whatever steps are necessary to stop it.”

That, combined with the president’s repeated statements that Iran getting a nuclear weapon is “unacceptable,” surprisingly aligns this administration with the George W. Bush administration’s doctrine of pre-emption. That doctrine famously described it as a duty to “anticipate and counter threats, using all elements of national power, before the threats can do grave damage.”

To be sure, Barack Obama has never asserted a right of pre-emptive action as assertively as Bush did….. But in a certain sense, Obama is asserting an even broader rationale for pre-emption. When Obama calls an Iran bomb “unacceptable,” and reiterates his willingness to use the military to prevent one, he doesn’t focus on any direct threat to the United States…..  http://swampland.time.com/2012/03/20/the-bush-obama-pre-emption-doctrine/#ixzz1pnBYYsHZ

March 21, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war