No 1, lonely, and proud of it: George Bush

In a muscular new statement of national strategic priorities, President Bush declared that the US must maintain unchallenged military superi...

In a muscular new statement of national strategic priorities, President Bush declared that the US must maintain unchallenged military superiority to win the fight against terrorism and weapons of mass destruction that now pose the greatest threat to US national security.

Deterrence and containment, the previous foundations of US strategy, are no longer valid, Bush said in a 31-page document titled ‘‘The National Security Strategy of the US of America.’’ Instead, the US must identify and destroy the terrorist threat ‘‘before it reaches our borders,’’ if necessary “acting alone and using preemptive force”.

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The report is the first Bush has issued under a 1986 law requiring the president to present Congress with an annual strategic statement. Overall, it gives the US a nearly messianic role in making the world ‘‘not just safer but better.’’

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While the report describes goals such as cooperation among ‘‘world powers’’ and the promotion of freedom, democracy and free trade as intrinsically desirable and important parts of US policy, it sets them largely within the context of their contribution to the fight against terrorism.

Most of what is contained in the report language is adapted from a series of speeches Bush has made since 9/11. The ‘‘three strategic priorities,’’ officials said, were to ‘‘lead the world’’ against terrorists and ‘‘aggressive regimes seeking weapons of mass destruction.’’

The most recent strategy document, drawn up by President Bill Clinton in December 1999, presented a far more traditional view of the world. It stressed the need for a strong army to deter and defeat large-scale, cross border attacks by the military forces of adversary countries but said that US security was primarily maintained through international alliances and security treaties.

Bush has adopted ‘‘a distinctively different approach,’’ said James B. Steinberg, who served as Clinton’s deputy national security adviser.

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The report says that the end of the Cold War and new relationships with countries such as Russia and China have provided the opportunity to rethink national strategy, and 9/11 demonstrated what the focus of attention should be.

‘‘It’s not a statement that says the US wants to alone be militarily so superior to everyone,’’ White House officials said. But ‘‘we will not allow an adversarial military power to rise.’’(LATWP)