US Stragety Allows No 'First Shot' by Enemy: Analysis

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, September 25, 2002

US Stragety Allows No 'First Shot' by Enemy: Analysis

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September 20 saw George W. Bush, President of the US present formally his "US National Security Strategy" to the US Congress. He announced in it that the US would alter its "strategy of containment" as practiced in the cold war period and replace it with "Pre-emptive Strikes" to forestall the terrorists and countries that are conspiring to get weapons of massive destruction. The US will not allow the enemy to "fire its first gunshot".

The "US National Security Strategy" is a document, which every US president has to submit to the US Congress for making a complete elucidation on the US foreign policy and national strategy. The 33- page long document says, since the disruption of the USSR the US has gone far ahead in military strength, which is strong enough to crush the attempt of any potential antagonist to overtake the US military forces. The US will never allow any foreign force to challenge the US military forces as did in the cold war era.

However, the document says, the US deems that the enemy confronted at present "cannot be dealt with by strategy of containment". In the past, the enemy had to possess a considerable strong force both in military and industrial fields to form a threat to the US interests, but now "countries on brink of disruption constitute a greater threat to the US than the cold-war antagonist". Many secret organizations may resort to very minimum cost to cause great losses to the US. The "rogue states" and terrorists under their wings are possible to use weapons of massive destruction. And so the US must take action to nip it in the bud before the threat comes into being. While continuing to seek for support from the international community the US must exercise its right of self-defence by taking actions independently without the least hesitation in launching "pre-emptive strikes" to forestall the "rogue states" and terrorists. The document stated in many places that there was no room for compromise when the US important interest was threatened.

The document also confirmed the decision made by Bush last year to withdraw from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty as the treaty has "put a brake on the US setting up its missile defence system". The document also criticized that the banning weapon proliferation treaty failed to prevent Iraq, Iran, and some other countries from obtaining the weapon of massive destruction.

Since last May, George W. Bush has many a time and in many a place talked of his strategy of "pre-emptive strikes". This time, he put it into the "US National Security Strategy", suggesting his determination to push through the war preparation and put it into action. Especially the time for the war-preparation he announced to the public has roused great concern of countries in the world.

For the moment, the US is energetically set on scheming its armed attack on Iraq. For this, Bush has submitted his proposal to the Congress, requesting it to authorize him the power to resort to the means he considered suitable, including using armed forces to deal with Iraq. At present, the US is urging the UN to adopt a new resolution, enforcing a greater pressure on Iraq. The crucial moment the White House chose to publish the "US National Security Strategy" indicates that internally, it intended to make the Congress pass the proposal while externally to impose pressure on the UN Security Council. It suggests that the US endurance to wait for the UN resolution is quite limited and that the US will "take action to forestall the enemy" by launching attack on Iraq even when there is no authorization of the United Nations.

As a "New York Times" commentary says, in a long-term point of view, the document described a strategic blueprint for maintaining the US State security, a most forceful strategy of the past 20 years that reeked of something aggressive ever since President Ronald Reagon. The advocacy put forward by Bush is tantamount to putting an end to the strategy of "containment" practiced by the US ever since the 1940s. This is the watershed of the US national strategy and it is going to alter the US principle of using armed forces in external affairs. It also indicates that the US has taken "military supremacy" as the strategic core for its national security, and the strike on terrorism and its asylum as the "most important out from the important".

The US opinions and media have different sayings on Bush's "new strategy". The "Los Angles Times" commentary pointed out on Sept 22 that the "US National Security Strategy" submitted to the Congress by President Bush would keep further away those countries which already felt dissatisfied with the practice the US willfully set on. Scholars pointed out once the US created a president other countries would make the same request having a president to go by. This is quite likely to trigger off new riots and wars in some countries and regions.

By People's Daily Online

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