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Pre-emptive action stressed by White House
WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Pre-emptive action against terrorism and other threats to U.S. security and interests was designated Friday by the White House as an integral component of national security strategy in the years ahead.

The greatest threats to the country and world today, it said, are not countries attacking America and its allies with armies and navies as in the past, but international terrorist groups, states that may support or harbor them, and their search for weapons of mass destruction.

"The United States will not allow these efforts to succeed," President George W. Bush said. "... As a matter of common sense and self-defense, America will act against such emerging threats before they are fully formed.

"We cannot defend America and our friends by hoping for the best. In the new world we have entered, the only path to peace and security is the path of action," he said.

Bush' comments were contained in the congressionally mandated National Security Strategy, which was sent to Capitol Hill and released Friday.

The report lays out the administration's vision of threats ahead and the country's mindset and ability to deal with them.

The United States, the report stressed, would continue to act not for "unilateral advantage" but "to create a balance of power that favors human freedom," the report said. "The United States must defend liberty and justice because these principles are right and true for all people everywhere.

"America must stand firmly for the non-negotiable demands of human dignity; the rule of law; limits on the absolute power of the state; free speech; freedom of worship...," the 33-page report said.

In many areas of the world, it said, "legitimate grievances" prevent establishment of peace. "Such grievances deserve to be, and must be, addressed within the political process, but no cause justifies terror."

In the battle against terrorism, the United States would support "moderate and modern government, especially in the Muslim world" and help tackle underlying conditions that spawn terrorism and promote the free flow of ideas.

But the United States would also identify and destroy terrorist threats to the country before it reached U.S. borders.

"While the United States will constantly strive to enlist the support of the international community, we will not hesitate to act alone, if necessary, to exercise our right of self-defense by acting pre-emptively against such terrorists, to prevent them from doing hard against our people and country."

The United States, it added, would also convince or compel states that may be aiding terrorists to "accept their sovereign responsibilities."

The report was issued amid a heated crisis with Iraq and the prospect of U,S. military force to compel the Saddam Hussein regime to comply with all U.N. resolutions on disarming weapons of mass destruction, observing human rights, and other mandates imposed following its defeat in the 1991 Gulf War.

Washington argues that Iraq poses a grave threat to world peace because of its weapons programs and flouting of accords and must be compelled to meet its obligations. It has made it clear it is prepared to act alone -- including militarily -- if the United Nations balks and opts to become what the administration calls "irrelevant."

On Thursday, the White House sent to Congress draft language on a resolution granting Bush "maximum flexibility" in dealing with Saddam, who the United States also wants ousted from power. The resolution, which is expected before Congress adjourns next month for mid-term elections, would strengthen the administration in its negotiations with the United Nations for a Security Council resolution that would sanction force to compel Saddam's cooperation and compliance.

France, Russia and China -- three veto-holding members of the five-country council -- are opposed to a new U.N. resolution since Iraq earlier this week agreed to allow the return of weapons inspectors it ousted in 1998.

The White House argues the agreement is no more than a ruse to buy time and is continuing its outreach efforts on Iraq action.

Friday morning Bush spoke by telephone for 30 minutes with Russian President Vladimir Putin about Iraq and his view of the danger it poses, the White House said. Later in the morning, he met with Russia's foreign and defense ministers.

The talks with the ministers focused on last May's Moscow agreement on reduction of nuclear arms, but also touched on Iraq.

Bush also spoke by phone with the leader of the Netherlands.

Pre-emptive action -- or anticipatory self-defense, as White House officials often call it -- "is not something one wants to use lightly," a senior administration official said, but there were still times when it might be necessary.

posted by West 6:13 PM