How do we justify the paradox of using a weapon of mass destruction to stop others from acquiring them?
The United States has the largest and most powerful arsenal of nuclear weap- ons in the world. The Sept. 11 tragedy concentrated its mind on the dangers of terrorist attacks using biological, chemical and nuclear weapons, and on the need for pre-emptive strikes as a form of active defense if credible evidence exists that such attacks are planned.
America emerged from the Sept. 11 attacks a nation inflamed, a nation enraged, but also a nation aroused. The tragedy inflicted on the American body politic a pain that will not sleep, and aroused an anger in the Bush administration that will not easily be appeased.