WAR WITH IRAQ

Primary sources related to the War With Iraq

Current News

White House: News -- Press Briefings -- Videos

United States Central Command: News Releases -- Transcripts

Department of Defense: News Releases -- News Transcripts -- Photos

State Department: Press Releases (Powell) -- Press Releases (Other) -- Daily Press Briefings -- Iraq --Video -- Travel Warnings

United States Mission to the United Nations: Press Releases

United States Agency for International Development: Press Releases -- Assistance -- Reconstruction

United Nations: News Centre

Bush Doctrine/Preemption Strategy

What were the origins of the Bush Doctrine? The following chronology of key formative documents and statements is partially based on the Frontline episode The War Behind Closed Doors (aired on PBS February 20, 2003), the companion Frontline web site, and information from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. First, some definitions:

containment = "U.S. strategic policy toward the Communist bloc for the duration of the Cold War."

Truman Doctrine = "Statement of American determination to assist countries in repelling Soviet expansion or internal Communist subversion. Announced by President Harry S. Truman before a joint session of Congress on March 12, 1947, the doctrine marked U.S. acknowledgment of the dawning Cold War with the Soviet Union."

Reagan Doctrine = "U.S. pledge to support indigenous anti-Communist insurgencies battling Soviet backed Marxist regimes in the Third World. The doctrine emerged as a leading foreign policy prerogative under President Ronald W. Reagan, who outlined its premises most forcefully in 1985 in his State of the Union message and in an October address to the United Nations General Assembly." Source: Flanders, Stephen A., Flanders, Carl N. Dictionary of American Foreign Affairs. Macmillan Publishing Company: New York, NY. 1993.

1. 1992. Defense Planning Guidance for the Fiscal Years 1994-1999

"Paul Wolfowitz, under secretary of defense for policy (the Pentagon's third-highest ranking civilian), takes the lead in drafting an internal set of military guidelines, called a 'Defense Planning Guidance,' which is routinely prepared every few years by the Defense Department.

"Wolfowitz's draft argues for a new military and political strategy in a post-Cold War world. Containment, it says, is a relic of the Cold War. America should talk loudly, carry a big stick, and use its military power to preempt the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). And if America has to act alone, so be it.

"Controversy erupts after the draft is leaked to the press. The White House orders Defense Secretary Cheney to rewrite it. In the new draft there is no mention of preemption or U.S. willingness to act alone." Source: Frontline.

The drafts and final Defense Planning Guidance are classified documents and are unavailable to the public. However, excerpts of the initial draft were published in the New York Times:

1. "Excerpts From Pentagon's Plan: 'Prevent the Re-Emergence of a New Rival.'"
   New York Times ; New York, NY; Mar 8, 1992; Section 1; Part 1; Page 14; Column 1; Foreign Desk. Available in LexisNexis Academic or ProQuest Historical Newspapers New York Times. Licensed for Dartmouth College users only.

2. Tyler, Patrick E. "U.S. Strategy Plan Calls for Insuring No Rivals Develop." New York Times; New York, N.Y.; Mar 8, 1992;Section 1; Part 1; Page 1; Column 6; Foreign Desk. Available in LexisNexis Academic or ProQuest Historical Newspapers New York Times. Licensed for Dartmouth College users only.

3. Tyler, Patrick E. "Pentagon Imagines New Enemies To Fight in Post-Cold-War Era" New York Times; New York, N.Y.; February 17, 1992; Section A; Page 1; Column 4; Foreign Desk. Available in LexisNexis Academic or ProQuest Historical Newspapers New York Times. Licensed for Dartmouth College users only.

"The classified documents indicate that the leadership of the Defense Department has instructed the military chiefs to request forces and weapons sufficient to fight at least two large regional wars simultaneously, one against Iraq in the Persian Gulf and one against North Korea, while also being ready to conduct a major military campaign in Europe to prevent a resurgent Russia from pursuing expansionist aims."

2. January 26, 1998. The Project for the New American Century sends an open letter to President William Clinton warning that the policy of containing Iraq is "dangerously inadequate." The letter is signed by Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, William Kristol, and others. The Project for the New American Century is a conservative, non-profit organization whose goal is to promote "American global leadership."

3. September 2000. Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces, and Resources for a New Century. Published by the Project for a New American Century.

"...coauthored by among others, six key defense and foreign policy officials now serving in the Bush administration. This report seems to have become a blueprint for Bush's foreign and defense policies." Source: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

4. June 4, 2001. Krauthammer, Charles. "The Bush Doctrine: ABM, Kyoto, and the New American Unilateralism." The Weekly Standard. June 4, 2001. Available in LexisNexis Academic. Licensed for Dartmouth College users only.

The Bush Doctrine gets its name.

5. September 11, 2001. President George W. Bush. Address to the Nation on the Terrorist Attacks.

"We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them."

6. September 13, 2001. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz. Department of Defense News Briefing.
   

"...these people [terrorists] try to hide, but they won't be able to hide forever. They think their harbors are safe, but they won't be safe forever. I think one has to say it's not just simply a matter of capturing people and holding them accountable, but removing the sanctuaries, removing the support systems, ending states who sponsor terrorism. And that's why it has to be a broad and sustained campaign. It's not going to stop if a few criminals are taken care of."

7. September 20, 2001. President George W. Bush. Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the United States Response to the Terrorist Attacks of September 11.

"We will pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism. Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime."

8. January 29, 2002. President George W. Bush. Address Before a Joint Session of the Congress on the State of the Union.

   "Our second goal is to prevent regimes that sponsor terror from threatening America or our friends and allies with weapons of mass destruction. Some of these regimes have been pretty quiet since September the 11th, but we know their true nature.

"North Korea is a regime arming with missiles and weapons of mass destruction, while starving its citizens....
Iran aggressively pursues these weapons and exports terror, while an unelected few repress the Iranian people’s hope for freedom...
Iraq continues to flaunt its hostility toward America and to support terror...

"States like these and their terrorist allies constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world."

9. June 1, 2002. President George W. Bush. Commencement Address at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York.

From containment to preemption. "And our security will require all Americans to be forward-looking and resolute, to be ready for preemptive action when necessary to defend our liberty and to defend our lives."

10. September 2002. President George W. Bush. The National Security Strategy of the United States of America.

    "Twenty months into his presidency, George W. Bush releases his administration's National Security Strategy (NSS). It is the first time the various elements of the Bush Doctrine have been formally articulated in one place...

    "Policy analysts note that there are many elements in the 2002 NSS document which bear a strong resemblance to recommendations presented in Paul Wolfowitz's controversial Defense Planning Guidance draft written in 1992 under the first Bush administration." Source: Frontline.

President

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents

The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents is published every Monday by the Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration and contains statements, messages, and other Presidential materials released by the White House during the preceding week. 1993 to present.

White House

Congress

Congressional Resources (Dartmouth College Library).

United Nations

eResources in United Nations (Dartmouth College Digital Library)

The Situation in Iraq (United Nations web site)

United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) 1991-1999

United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) 1999-2003

Iraq - Heritage in Danger (UNESCO World Heritage News)

Links

Declassified Documents Reference System. Full-text of selected US Government declassifed documents. Licensed for Dartmouth College users only.

Foreign Broadcast Information Service Electronic Index. 1975-1996. An index to the FBIS microfiche collection housed in the Jones Media Center (Berry Level 2). Licensed for Dartmouth College users only.

World News Connection. 1996- . FBIS. Full-text. English translations of newspaper articles, conference proceedings, television and radio broadcasts, periodicals, and non-classified technical reports from around the world. Licensed for Dartmouth College users only.

Public Affairs Guidance (PAG) on Embedding Media During Possible Future Operations/Deployments in the U.S. Central Commands (CENTCOM) Area of Responsibility (AOR). Department of Defense Policy on Media Coverage. February 2003.

Iraq - A Country Study 1988 (Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress under the Country Studies/Area Handbook Program sponsored by the Department of the Army.)

Ullman, Harlan, and Wade, James P. Shock and Awe: Achieving Rapid Dominance. Washington, D.C.: National Defense University Center for Advanced Concepts and Technology, [1996].