Publication

This paper discusses the preventive strike policies and strategies of the Bush administration as reflected in the US National Security Strategy of 2002 and their application during the Iraq War. The authors state that if the administration does attempt to give first-strike force a second chance after the strategy’s checkered debut in 2003 invasion of Iraq, a key determinant of policy success will likely be the degree to which the White House and its public interlocutors remedy factors that contributed to the mistakes in 2002 and 2003.