Editing Bush Doctrine (section)

==''National Security Strategy of the United States''==
The main elements of the Bush Doctrine were delineated in a document, the ''[[National Security Strategy (United States)|National Security Strategy of the United States]]'', published on September 17, 2002.<ref>[http://fs6.depauw.edu:50080/~jeremyanderson/teach/213_2002nssIntro.pdf Introduction - The National Security Strategy 2002]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}}, PDF</ref> This document is often cited as the definitive statement of the doctrine.<ref name=NYT_Opinion_20030413>{{cite news |last=[[Editorial|Opinion]] |title=Aftermath; The Bush Doctrine |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/13/opinion/aftermath-the-bush-doctrine-237710.html?sq=%22bush+doctrine%22&scp=4&st=cse |work=The New York Times |date=April 13, 2003| access-date=2008-09-12}}</ref><ref name=NYT_Opinion_20020922>{{cite news |last=Opinion |title=The Bush Doctrine |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/22/opinion/the-bush-doctrine-998672.html?sq=bush+doctrine&scp=9&st=cse |work=The New York Times |date=September 22, 2002| access-date=2008-09-12}}</ref><ref name=MotherJones_Gitlin_200301>{{cite journal|last=Gitlin |first=Todd |journal=Mother Jones |title=America's Age of Empire: The Bush Doctrine |url=https://www.motherjones.com/commentary/columns/2003/01/ma_205_01.html |date=January–February 2003 |access-date=2008-09-12}}</ref> As updated in 2006, it states:<ref name=NSS_March2006_sectionV>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/nsc/nss/2006/print/sectionV.html|chapter=Summary of National Security Strategy 2002|title=The National Security Strategy of the United States|author=National Security Council|publisher=The White House|date=March 2006}}</ref><ref name=NSS_March2006>{{cite book|url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/nsc/nss/2006/print/index.html |title=The National Security Strategy of the United States |author=National Security Council |publisher=The White House|date=March 2006 |author-link= United States National Security Council}}</ref>

{{quote|The security environment confronting the United States today is radically different from what we have faced before. Yet the first duty of the United States Government remains what it always has been: to protect the American people and American interests. It is an enduring American principle that this duty obligates the government to anticipate and counter threats, using all elements of national power, before the threats can do grave damage. The greater the threat, the greater is the risk of inaction – and the more compelling the case for taking anticipatory action to defend ourselves, even if uncertainty remains as to the time and place of the enemy's attack. There are few greater threats than a terrorist attack with WMD.

To forestall or prevent such hostile acts by our adversaries, the United States will, if necessary, act preemptively in exercising our inherent right of self-defense. The United States will not resort to force in all cases to preempt emerging threats. Our preference is that nonmilitary actions succeed. And no country should ever use preemption as a pretext for aggression.}}