The Bush administration today reaffirmed its readiness to use pre-emptive military action despite the corrosive events that have swept through Iraq since the American invasion three years ago.
Writing in a 49-page national security report, as America launched its biggest air assault on Iraq since the 2003 invasion, George Bush said that although conflict resolution through diplomacy was preferred, he would not shy away from using force to try to stop the spread of nuclear and other weapons.
"If necessary, under long-standing principles of self defense, we do not rule out the use of force before attacks occur -- even if uncertainty remains as to the time and place of the enemy's attack," Mr Bush wrote.
The report said that the US faced "no greater challenge from a single country than from Iran".
It accused the regime of supporting terrorists, threatening Israel and disrupting democratic reform in Iraq. Mr Bush said diplomacy to halt Tehran's suspected nuclear weapons work must prevail to avert a conflict.
"This diplomatic effort must succeed if confrontation is to be avoided," Mr Bush said.
The report, an updated version of a document published in 2002 following the 9/11 attacks, summarizes Mr Bush's plan for protecting America and directing US relations with other nations. The report makes it clear the president hasn't changed his mind about military options despite the embarrassment of finding no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
"When the consequences of an attack with weapons of mass destruction are potentially so devastating, we cannot afford to stand idly by as grave dangers materialize ... The place of
Commentary by Helen & Harry Highwater:
After so many thousands of deaths in a "pre-emptive strike" on Iraq, when Iraq in fact posed no threat... After launching a war which has made Iraq into a chaotic hellhole of daily death, and led to increasing terrorism world-wide ...
President Bush is ready to do it all again.
No remorse. No apologies. No second thoughts about what he's done, and no hesitation to do it again.
That's pretty close to the layman's definition of insanity -- doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.
Or does he expect it to go as badly next time as last time?
When we started this series of 'Is Bush insane?' newsbits, we thought the question was plausible.
We've since grown certain, and it's no longer a question: The American President is out of his mind.
pre-emption in our national security strategy remains the same," Mr Bush wrote.
Mr Bush repeatedly referred to America being at war, saying his country was "in the early years of a long struggle, similar to what our country faced in the early years of the Cold War". He did not say what would happen if international negotiations with Iran failed. He said the US was looking to tighten a loophole in the non-proliferation treaty that permits regimes to produce fissile material that can be used to make nuclear weapons.
The Bush administration currently is working to persuade Russia and China to support a proposed UN Security Council resolution demanding that Iran end its uranium enrichment program.
Mr Bush also had tough words for North Korea, which he said poses a serious nuclear proliferation challenge, counterfeits US currency, traffics in narcotics, threatens its neighbors and starves its people. Russia and China were rebuked in the report and Mr Bush called Syria a tyranny that harbors terrorists and sponsors terrorist activity.
On Russia, Mr Bush said recent trends show a waning commitment to democratic freedoms and institutions. "Strengthening our relationship will depend on the policies, foreign and domestic, that Russia adopts," he said.
Challenges remain in Iraq, the president conceded, where sectarian violence threatens the fragile government and the US death toll has topped 2,300. Earlier this week, the Pentagon announced it was moving about 700 additional US troops into Iraq from Kuwait because of the escalating killings there and fears that a Shia holiday would spark further violence.
"When the Iraqi government, supported by the coalition, defeats the terrorists, terrorism will be dealt a critical blow," Mr Bush said, acknowledging that the fight against terrorism was far from over.
in·san·i·ty n. 1 a : a deranged state of the mind usually occurring as a specific disorder (as schizophrenia) and usually excluding such states as mental retardation, psychoneurosis, and various character disorders
b : a mental disorder
2 : such unsoundness of mind or lack of understanding as prevents one from having the mental capacity required by law to enter into a particular relationship, status, or transaction or as removes one from criminal or civil responsibility
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