People's Democracy

The Bush Doctrine: Naked Quest For World Domination

Prakash Karat

PRESIDENT Bush has clearly and arrogantly spelt out what the US global strategy will be in the coming days -- complete domination of the world by US imperialism. The document, which expounds the Bush doctrine, is "The National Security Strategy of the United States" which is a 33-page report that Bush has submitted to the US Congress. Every US President is required to present to the Congress such a strategy paper.

The strategy set out is the most aggressive and imperial in ambition that any President of the United States has declared so far. It exceeds the anti-Communist crusade announced by President Reagan in the early eighties. Even The New York Times was constrained to editorially comment that "At other points, the paper sounds more like a pronouncement that the Roman Empire, or, Napoleon might have produced."

What are the highlights of the Bush doctrine? The strategic document makes two new points. Firstly, the US will take preemptive action against hostile states or terrorist groups developing weapons of mass destruction. Secondly, the US will never allow its military superiority to be challenged the way it was done during the Cold War.

Unlike the previous strategic understanding which emphasised deterrence and containment, the new doctrine stresses preemptive military action by the United States. The document states: "We will not hesitate to act alone, if necessary, to exercise our right of self-defence by acting preemptively". This includes "compelling states to accept their sovereign responsibilities", not to aid terrorists. The post-September 11 approach of the US has now been elevated to a strategic doctrine. The United States reserves the right to strike at any country, or, territory in the world against enemies perceived to be hostile to it. The doctrine discards any pretense of abiding by international law or respecting national sovereignties.

It is under this self-serving doctrine that war will be declared on Iraq on the pretext that it has the capability to produce weapons of mass destruction. In the so-called global war against terrorism declared by Bush, the right of preemptive strike will be exercised again and again. All countries are bound to cooperate with the United States. If not, they will be compelled to do so. The frenetic stationing of American troops all around the globe -- in Central Asia, in West Asia, in South and South-East Asia and in Africa -- are all designed to ensure compliance to the imperial dictates.

The application of this doctrine is unfolding in West Asia and in Iraq, in particular. The United States assigns high priority to the strategic control of West Asia. Iraq, with its oil reserves of 112 billion barrels, is a prime target because it defies the United States and remains outside its global hegemony. A strong Iraq in West Asia is, therefore, anathema.

The Bush doctrine declares that it will not tolerate any challenger to the US empire. "The President has no intention of allowing any foreign power to catch up with a huge lead United States has opened since the fall of the Soviet Union, more than a decade ago". Any country which seeks to acquire a military position, even equally to the United States, will be considered a hostile power and acted against. China is one such prime target given its potential military and economic strength. The document declares, without any prevarication, that "our forces will be strong enough to dissuade potential adversaries from pursuing a military build up in hopes of surpassing, or, equaling, the power of the United States."

With this strategy, the Bush administration has jettisoned any pretense of arms limitation treaties, or, nuclear disarmament. The document sanctifies Bush's decision to abandon the 1972 ABM treaty and endorses the pursuit of new missile systems to acquire total superiority and exclusive dominance in the realm of nuclear and missile technology. In the earlier Nuclear Posture Review prepared by the Pentagon, the first strike use of nuclear weapons was endorsed, including the use of nuclear weapons against the non-nuclear states. The current doctrine does not rule out the use of tactical nuclear weapons in a war against Iraq, or, similar operations.

Condoleezza Rice, the National Security Advisor to Bush, has made it more explicit: "The US is a very special country in that when we maintain this position of military strength that we have now, we do it in support of a balance of power that favours freedom".

"But if it comes to allowing another adversary to reach military parity with the US in the way the Soviet Union did, no, the US does not intend to allow that to happen".

The United States will not tolerate any country outside the sphere of its hegemony to undertake the building up of its strength. Such countries, whether they are emerging global powers like China, or, major regional powers like Iraq, will attract hostile action.

The doctrine makes no bones about the use of foreign aid and institutions like the IMF and the World Bank to advance America's global interests. The message delivered by the document is that multilateral cooperation is fine as long as it serves American interests but the United States will act unilaterally every time when it's own interests cannot be compromised. And, those interests must prevail. The Bush doctrine serves to enforce the will of the United States.

There is a curious footnote on the response to the strategic document submitted to the US Congress which involves India. As the world community reacted with dismay to the unbridled arrogance of the Bush Administration, the BJP-led government's response was one of craven approval. Jaswant Singh, finance minister and till recently the external affairs minister, was in Washington to attend the annual IMF-World Bank meet. Soon after meeting Colin Powell, Singh announced that he saw nothing "revolutionary or new" in the Bush doctrine. He justified preemptive action as inherent in deterrence and claimed it was similar to the right of self-defence contained in the United Nations charter and thus was the prerogative of every country. Thus, the Indian government became the first government to support blindly the aggressive stance of the US, just as it was the first to welcome the Bush announcement of the National Missile Defence system.

The Bush doctrine presented to the US Congress is a self-incriminating document: it declares the US to be a rogue superpower. There can be no complaint that we have not been forewarned. The world is witnessing the consequences of such a crude and power-drunk doctrine in the relentless pursuit by Bush to impose a destructive war on Iraq. There is another warning -- this is just the beginning.