US President George W. Bush has approved a new counterintelligence strategy that calls for preemptive action against foreign intelligence services perceived as threats to the US national security.

The counterintelligence strategy, described by The Washington Post on Sunday as the first of its kind in the country, was approved by Bush on Tuesday.

The new strategy would give the United States the initiative to attack foreign spy services and the spy components of terrorist groups before they can strike, the paper quoted US counterintelligence officials as saying, who met at a conference held at Texas A&M University.

The strategy aims to protect US intelligence and information systems from foreign agents, including al Qaeda, by integrating counterintelligence through the new Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive.

The US officials described the strategy as an extension of the post-Sept. 11 foreign policy initiative known as the Bush doctrine,which calls for preemptive action against nations and extremist groups viewed as threats to the United States, the paper said.

US National Counterintelligence Executive Michelle Van Cleave said in a speech that the past policy of waiting for intelligence threat to emerge "ceded the initiative to the adversary," adding that "no longer will we wait until taking action," The Washington Times reported.

The strategy is reported to be released to the public as an unclassified document in coming days.

Source: Xinhua