Surprise! Guess Who Originated "Pre-Emption" Policy?

http://www.chuckmuth.com ^ | December 7, 2001 | Chuck Muth

[jigsaw]

I note that the above came in Muth's emailed "News & Views" Newsletter.

[liberallarry]

It didn't begin with FDR.

Our entire western expansion was pre-emptive, beginning with Jefferson's Louisiana purchase. Polk's Mexican war was a particularly good example. So was our annexation of Hawaii.

See also the Monroe Doctrine.

[thoughtomator]

Yeah I was thinking Monroe Doctrine myself, as well as the way we solved the problems with the Barbary pirates. Pre-emption is the foundation of American foreign policy.

[mrsmith]

The Franklin quote is useful research.

Jefferson
TO THE SECRETARY OF WAR. (HENRY DEARBORN.)
MONTICELLO, August 28, 1807.
"... we wish them to live in peace with all nations as well as with us, and we have no intention ever to strike them or to do them an injury of any sort, unless first attacked or threatened; but that learning that some of them meditate war on us, we too are preparing for war against those, and those only who shall seek it; and that if ever we are constrained to lift the hatchet against any tribe, we will never lay it down till that tribe is exterminated, or driven beyond the Mississippi. ...it will be a subject for consideration whether, on satisfactory evidence that any tribe means to strike us, we shall not anticipate by giving them the first blow..."

I think there's a few pre-emptive wars in the Old Testament too.

[firebrand]

And what about when terrorists hit Kenya and Tanzania, and Clinton preemptively struck Sudan and Afghanistan?

[Servant of the 9]

I believe that is 60 years prior to 9/11, not 50 years.

So9

[Peach]

Bump

[HIDEK6]

At any rate, the doctrine of pre-emption didn't originate in the Bush administration. It was a policy adopted and implemented exactly 50 years, to the day, before the September 11 al Qaeda attacks on U.S. citizens.

I think he means 60 years.

[GraniteStateConservative]

In a Fireside Chat on - and you're not going to believe the coincidence of this date - September 11, 1941, FDR told the nation, "When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you do not wait until he has struck before you crush him."

Hmmmm. Response, Mr. Dean? Rep. Gephardt? Sen. Edwards? Sen. Kerry? Rep. Kucinich? Rev. Sharpton?

Their response is the same as Pat Buchanan's-- Iraq wasn't a rattlesnake. It was more like a worm snake. You'll never convince them that Iraq was a threat to anyone. As long as they deny the threat, you've lost the argument.

[gatorbait]

Our entire western expansion was pre-emptive, beginning with Jefferson's Louisiana purchase.
Could not agree more, and how fortuitous it was .
The Monrow Doctrine served the US and its neighbors pretty well too. Good points. I do think it'd be a lovely learning experience to bounce the FDR quote of the dwarves and Hillary!

[Ben Ficklin]

Under international law all nations have a legal right to "anticipatory self-defense". This right was also incorporated into the UN Charter, article 51 if my memory is right.

Having said that, The current use and justification for pre-emption, commonly called the Bush Doctrine, actually is found in the Hart-Rudman Commission Report aka Road Map to the 21st Century. It is found in the Phase 2 Report which was released in the spring of 2000.

[MosesKnows]

all nations have a legal right to "anticipatory self-defense".

"In June l967, we had a choice. The Egyptian Army concentrations in the Sinai approaches do not prove that Nasser was really about to attack us. We must be honest with ourselves. We decided to attack him." -- Menachem Begin in The New York Times, August 21, 1982

[Ben Ficklin]

Yes, there are numerous examples. Another would be the bombing of the Iraqi reactor. Japan claimed it in the attack on Pearl Harbor.

All nations and especially western democracies have shied away from anticipatory self defense because it is hard to prove and can create problems with the media and citizens. As the above article points out, Roosevelt was speaking in a Fireside Chat so he wasn't building a legal justification but manufacturing consent of the citizens.

[Ghengis]

Iraq violated the Gulf War Treaty and every United Nations resolution. On top of that, Sadaam Hussein plotted to assasinate the former President of the United States on a visit to Kuwait.

The only thing wrong with President GWB's policy is that he had to develop and implement it. We should have had a President with the balls to do it 10 years previously.

[FairOpinion]

Article just appeare at FrontPageMag.com:

http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=11190

"In a Fireside Chat on - and you're not going to believe the coincidence of this date - September 11, 1941, FDR told the nation, "When you see a rattlesnake poised to strike, you do not wait until he has struck before you crush him."

Hmmmm. Response, Mr. Dean? Rep. Gephardt? Sen. Edwards? Sen. Kerry? Rep. Kucinich? Rev. Sharpton?"

[wizardoz]

I thought Nasser blockaded Israel's southern port. That's an act of war, isn't it?

[yoe]

This nation cannot nor should tolerate those who seek to destroy our very culture be it through religion or guerilla tactics here or in any other country.

Mr. Dean? Rep. Gephardt? Sen. Edwards? Sen. Kerry? Rep. Kucinich? Rev. Sharpton? Why would you seek votes from those who would destroy you in a heart beat? Shouldn’t you be more interested in protecting America than appeasing our enemies? Your rhetoric has done little to dissuade them and much to encourage them. It is time to step up to the plate and show your courage by standing behind this courageous President, your President. Politics be damned! America is at WAR, quit ading and abetting our enemies.

[yoe]

ALL,

aiding and abetting........sorry

[sboyd]

Preemption goes back to at least Lincoln at Fort Sumter. But it becomes really prominent with Cuba (The Berlin Policy was one of preemption, too) in 1961 with the Kennedy administration. LBJ can also be thrown into that mix with Vietnam. I would consider putting Truman in the mix with his dealings in Iran, too. Preemption is not a new concept. We need to destroy the liberals' saying of "worst economy since Hoover..."(LBJ/Carter)