Washington: The White House on October 16 suggested that preemptive attacks are permissible for the US against Iraq but the same logic does not hold for India, which is fighting Pakistan-sponsored terrorism, or for China, which wants to reunify with Taiwan.

Asked whether it would be lawful if India adopted the US administration's policy of preemptive attack, vis-à-vis Pakistan, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said different policies work in different parts of the world.

"What is different the unique history of Iraq. Different policies work in different parts of the world, and different doctrines work at different times and in different regions because of the local circumstances," he said.

Policies of containment work more with a rational figure than an irrational one, as it did vis-a-vis the Soviet Union, Fleischer said.

Iraq, on the other hand, given its military history, amount of weaponry it acquired and used to invade neighbours, has not been deterred by such policies in the past, he noted.

Given the fact that an irrational leader who has a history of military aggression and domination may acquire a nuclear weapon, the question is, should the US do nothing, and allow such a leader to acquire weapons that he could then use to blackmail the world and the region and even use it to harm us, Fleischer said.

PTI