Twelve years ago President George W. Bush addressed the June 1, 2002 graduating class at West Point and told the cadets, “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 moments 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 mid June 2002 President Bush met with the new President of the Russian Federation and described Vladimir Putin to the world, I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straight forward and trustworthy and we had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul. Hes a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country and I appreciate very much the frank dialogue and thats the beginning of a very constructive relationship. America was six months into its fruitless invasion in Afghanistan. On September 20, 2002 the Bush Administration unveiled its revision of America’s National Security Strategy proclaiming the nations willingness to act unilaterally and preemptively to counter any threat to ourselves and our allies. A dozen years have passed since President Bush pronounced his doctrine and gazed into Vladimir’s eyes to view his Russian soul. The pre-emptive war launched against Iraq in March 2003 transmogrified itself, as wars of occupation often do, into a guerilla insurgency against the Iraqi regime American arms installed. Putin led Russia has occupied and annexed Crimea to wrest it away from Ukraine in a move to preempt perceived threats to the interests of Ukrainians of Russian ethnicity. Russian armed surrogates occupy Eastern Ukraine challenging the powers of Western Europe. One can imagine President Putin saying, “Had we waited for threats to fully materialize we would have waited too long.” America’s preemptive chickens have come home to roost.
Posted on: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 03:06:31 +0000