President George W. Bush unveiled the Bush Doctrine in his commencement
address at West Point on June 1, 2002. The two key points of this doctrine
are 1. pre-emptive strikes against potential attacks and 2. promotion of
democratic regime change. President Bush tells us we can no longer wait until
a threat materializes:
"We cannot defend America and our friends by hoping for the best. We cannot put our
faith in the word of tyrants, who solemnly sign non-proliferation treaties, and then
systemically break them. If we wait for threats to fully materialize, we will have waited
too long — Our security will require transforming the military you will lead — a military
that must be ready to strike at a moment’s notice in any dark corner of the world. And
our security will require all Americans to be forward-looking and resolute, to be ready for
preemptive action when necessary to defend our liberty and to defend our lives."
In this new age of terrorism when extremists are willing to crash airplanes into
building to cause the greatest amount of death and destruction, is it
reasonable for the United States and other western nations to adopt these
"forward-looking" measures to safeguard the nation?
Please post a response by Monday, March 18.
address at West Point on June 1, 2002. The two key points of this doctrine
are 1. pre-emptive strikes against potential attacks and 2. promotion of
democratic regime change. President Bush tells us we can no longer wait until
a threat materializes:
"We cannot defend America and our friends by hoping for the best. We cannot put our
faith in the word of tyrants, who solemnly sign non-proliferation treaties, and then
systemically break them. If we wait for threats to fully materialize, we will have waited
too long — Our security will require transforming the military you will lead — a military
that must be ready to strike at a moment’s notice in any dark corner of the world. And
our security will require all Americans to be forward-looking and resolute, to be ready for
preemptive action when necessary to defend our liberty and to defend our lives."
In this new age of terrorism when extremists are willing to crash airplanes into
building to cause the greatest amount of death and destruction, is it
reasonable for the United States and other western nations to adopt these
"forward-looking" measures to safeguard the nation?
Please post a response by Monday, March 18.