preemptive war because it works so well

Bush plans to issue a new national security strategy today reaffirming his doctrine of preemptive war against terrorists and hostile states with chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, despite the troubled experience in Iraq.

The document, an articulation of U.S. strategic priorities that by law is required every four years, lays out a robust view of America's power and an assertive view of its responsibility to bring change around the world. On everything from genocide to human trafficking to AIDS, the strategy describes itself as "idealistic about goals and realistic about means.