Outgoing White House political strategist Karl Rove told The Examiner that President Bush’s foreign policy of pre-emption will endure through future administrations, Republican or Democratic.
“What American president in the foreseeable future is going to say, ‘You know what, let’s not rock the boat. Let’s accept the fact that we have authoritarian regimes that allow their people no means of expression, except through radical madrassas. We don’t need to foster democracy,’ ” Rove said in a recent interview. “It’s going to be hard for any president of the United States to step away from theBush Doctrine: If you feed a terrorist, arm a terrorist, train a terrorist, host a terrorist, you’re just as bad as a terrorist. It’s going to be very hard.
“People may be able to nibble around the edges, but future presidents — for the foreseeable future — are going to adopt the doctrine that we cannot wait until dangers fully materialize. We must take necessary pre-emptive action. The question is going to be what’s necessary and pre-emptive, but that doctrine is ingrained.”
