You’ve got questions, Carpetbagger has answers

I’ve received some terrific emails today from some of the Carpetbagger’s most reliable readers.

One email had some questions about “preemptive” strikes and how common they are in American history. As the reader, let’s call him Dr. Who, put it, “When was the last time America ‘started’ a war?” Dr. Who added, “Have there been occurrences of other countries ‘pre-emptively’ attacking countries as a ‘defensive’ measure?”

First, indulge me for a moment while I comment on the idea of “preemption.” The Bush administration outlined a new foreign policy that his administration was embracing on June 1, 2002 in a commencement address at West Point. It’s a fascinating speech and I recommend anyone interested in this issue read it.

Bush makes an interesting case. He noted that previous administrations have supported military strategies that were effective for the times, such as containment and deterrence. In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, Bush said we need a new strategy, never before embraced in American history, which he described as the U.S. military’s need to take “preemptive action when necessary” against those who would harm us.

I understand the concept. Consider an analogy I’ve been using (and which Dr .Who alluded to in his email): a madman is aiming a weapon at you. Out of a sense of honor, you believe that you should not retaliate unless fired upon. But you realize, if the madman aims well, you won’t get the chance to fire back. Instead of waiting for the armed madman to shoot you, you decide to shoot him. You are, effectively, making a preemptive strike.

Now consider a slightly different scenario. A madman is angry with you and has threatened your friends in the past. You had a tussle with him a few years back, which you clearly won, and from which he never fully recovered. You grow concerned that at some point in the future, he might get a weapon and try and do you harm. The madman doesn’t appear to have a weapon right now, but you’ve heard rumors that he’s trying to get one. Instead of waiting around for him to get the weapon and consider whether or not he’s going to use it against you, you decide to take him out. This isn’t a preemptive strike; it’s a preventative strike.

And that’s Iraq. Iraq hasn’t threatened us or our allies since he invaded Kuwait. We think he may have bio and chem weapons, though inspectors can’t find them, and we think he’d like to acquire nuclear weapons. We’re invading his country and overthrowing his government to prevent that from happening. In my opinion, however, this should not qualify as preemption. We’re not invading to prevent an imminent attack, we’re invading to prevent attacks that may or may not occur sometime in the future.

Now to Dr. Who’s questions. When did we last “start” a war? That kind of depends on what you mean by “war.” Since Reagan was elected, there have been nine instances in which the U.S. has sent troops to a foreign nation in a potentially hostile situation: Lebanon, Grenada, Panama, Iraq (the first time), Somalia, Bosnia, Haiti, Kosovo, and Afghanistan. Some of these were small, safe, and fairly quick, military actions (Grenada), while others were massive undertakings (Afghanistan).

But Dr. Who probably meant the “big” wars (the World Wars, 1812, Civil, Spanish-American, etc.). If so, the U.S. hasn’t “started” a war against a foreign enemy since 1776, and has certainly never used the concept of preemption to justify an attack. (Before historians in the audience write in to explain that we really did start wars such as Vietnam and the Spanish-American war with trumped up, fraudulent justifications, keep in mind that I’m aware of this but I’m trying to keep this post to fewer than 1,000 words. Thanks for your understanding)

Dr. Who also inquired about other countries launching preemptive attacks. The answer is yes, it’s happened on a few occasions. My favorite, of course, was Israel in 1981 when they sent fighter jets to demolish Iraq’s Osirak nuclear reactor. In the process, Israel destroyed Saddam’s nuclear weapons program, which they understandably assumed he’d use against them.

However, it’s important to note there are some significant differences between recent examples of preemptive strikes and the invasion we’re about to launch. While some countries have made attacks against enemies as part of a “self-defense in advance” strategy (Israel in ’81), never in recent history has this principle been used as validation for the overthrow of a sovereign government. In other words, specific attacks have been made under guise of preemption, but never a full-scale war whose goal was “regime change.”