Strike first

You think they would have learned from the debacle that has become Iraq. Instead, they are upping the ante:

The Pentagon has drafted a revised doctrine for the use of nuclear weapons that envisions commanders requesting presidential approval to use them to preempt an attack by a nation or a terrorist group using weapons of mass destruction. The draft also includes the option of using nuclear arms to destroy known enemy stockpile of nuclear, biological or chemical weapons.

The document, written by the Pentagon's Joint Chiefs staff but not yet finally approved by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, would update rules and procedures governing use of nuclear weapons to reflect a preemption strategy first announced by the Bush White House in December 2002. The strategy was outlined in more detail at the time in classified national security directives.

One can only hope that an administration with more common sense will end up in the White House soon.

We've all seen in the months leading up to the Iraqi invasion how easy it is to convince yourself that a country has winds or poses an immediate threat to our country. What makes anyone think that things are going to go better the second time?