The Bush “administration also issued a document titled ‘The National Security Strategy of the United States of America’ that formalized the preemption doctrine outlined by the president at West Point in June [1, 2002]. ‘We cannot let our enemies strike first,’ it stated. ‘The overlap between states that sponsor terror and those that pursue WMD compels us to action. …To forestall or prevent such hostile acts by our adversaries, the United States will, if necessary act preemptively.’ ”
– Thomas E. Ricks, Fiasco, Pages 60-61