|
The White House on Wednesday published a new strategy paper that identifies six countries -- North Korea, Iran, Cuba, Syria, Burma, Zimbabwe and Belarus -- as ¡°despotic systems¡± the U.S. needs to protect itself with ¡°all necessary measures.¡± The National Security Strategy denounces North Korea as a nation with a bad record of being dishonest in negotiations, especially on its nuclear development. The paper comes three-and-a-half years after the Bush administration¡¯s first in September 2002, which fatally identified Iraq as a ¡°rogue state.¡±
The 2002 paper established the doctrine of ¡°pre-emptive strikes¡± against countries deemed to possess so-called weapons of mass destruction. While that concept is less prominent, the new 49-page paper insists that WMD pose the greatest threat to U.S. national security in the 21 century. In dealing with the threat, Washington says it does not rule out ¡°the principle of self-defense¡± using armed force to anticipate attacks, even if it is uncertain when and where such attacks are going to be launched.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
|
