Targeting the World: Assessing the Lawfulness of the "Bush Doctrine": Contrary to Former President George W. Bush's Belief That "I Don't Care What the International Lawyers Say, We are Going to Kick Some Ass," Preventive War-Waging, As Demonstrated in the Bush Doctrine, Does Not Kick Ass. Preventive Self-Defense is an Illegal, Counter-Productive Policy Which Sets Deadly Precedents for Other States to Follow (Global Security) (Viewpoint Essay‪)‬

Nowadays when one mentions anticipatory, often referred to as preemptive, or as many in the Bush administration [unknowingly, but correctly] preferred to label it "preventive" self-defense, the first example which comes to mind is the US invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Also known as Operation Iraqi Freedom, the invasion occurred despite the lack of, among other factors, international support. The United States government failed to provide any conclusive and convincing evidence of 1) the alleged link between Al-Qaeda and Iraq; 2) the existence or at least build-up of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Yet those two notions were precisely the "popular" justifications for invading the sovereign state of Iraq in the first place. The misleading fear-factor/security-paranoia propaganda along with significant catastrophic-scenarios purported by the media proved to be considerably effectual in the initial phases of the operation and rallied massive US popular support for the invasion.