Washington: In a fresh warning to hostile regimes, President George W Bush has said
US through its "most successful" Afghan and Iraq campaigns has introduced a new form
of warfare, demonstrating its capability to change rulers without targeting an
entire nation.
The President said these wars "should make it clear" that US has shed its policy of
retaliation in favour of pre-emptive action against "nations, which challenge
America's security and security of its friends".
"In this era of warfare, we showed how we can target a regime, not a nation. Our aim
is to track and strike the guilty. Terrorists and tyrants have now been put on
notice. They can no longer feel safe hiding behind innocent lives," Bush said.
Addressing defence personnel at a F-18 production facility in Missouri on April 16,
he said, "From Kabul to Baghdad, American forces and allies have conducted some of
the most successful military campaigns in history. By a combination of creative
strategies and advanced technology, we are redefining war on our terms."
Attributing the success in Iraq to a "unique strategy", he said even before fighting
began, special operations forces were inside that country, moving to protect key
infrastructure, oil fields and bridges.
"Overwhelmingly, yet carefully targeted, air strikes left entire enemy divisions
without armour and without organisation. Precision-guided weapons fatally disrupted
the regime's system of command and control," he said.
Denying large-scale civilian casualties, the President said in the new warfare, the
US can strike while suffering minimum casualties and inflicting minimum casualties
among civilians.
PTI
