Legal Commentary

McCain/Bush v. Palin On Preventive War

By Big Tent Democrat

Matt Yglesias captures the dichotomy:

George W. Bush has outlined a doctrine that he calls “preemption” but that’s really prevention or “anticipatory self-defense.” It holds that we should attack other countries that might attack us at some future point even if we have no particular evidence of a specific or imminent plan to do so. As we also know, John McCain agrees with this doctrine. Sarah Palin . . . outlined a different position, advancing an imminent threat standard.

. . . Which naturally raises the question of whether or not McCain discussed the issue of the Bush doctrine, or preventive war, or anticipatory self-defense, before putting her on the ticket.

That is a good question. Hopefully the Media will ask John McCain about the Bush Doctrine and whether he now agrees with Bush's preventive war doctrine that led to the Iraq Debacle or with Palin's sensible "imminent threat" standard.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on September 12, 2008 (boomark / email).