 | From New York Times Television:
With the bang of US Army howitzers firing precision weapons, the burst of US Navy helicopters scrambling to alert, FA-18e fighter jets maneuvering toward targets and tank battalion war games in the Kuwait desert - this is not the beginning of war with Iraq or the end-game with Bin Laden - this program presents the strategic doctrine of preemption in action.
Except from 2002 the National Security Strategy of the United States:
“As a matter of common sense and self defense, America will act against such emerging threats before they are fully formed… We cannot defend America and our friends by hoping for the best… In the new world we have entered, the only path to peace and security is the path of action.” |
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With the bang of US Army howitzers firing precision weapons, the burst of US Navy helicopters scrambling to alert, FA-18e fighter jets maneuvering toward targets and tank battalion war games in the Kuwait desert - this is not the beginning of war with Iraq or the end-game with Bin Laden - this program presents the strategic doctrine of preemption in action.
Except from 2002 the National Security Strategy of the United States: “As a matter of common sense and self defense, America will act against such emerging threats before they are fully formed… We cannot defend America and our friends by hoping for the best… In the new world we have entered, the only path to peace and security is the path of action.”
"We must take the battle to the enemy, disrupt his plans, and confront the world threats before they emerge …"President George W. Bush June 2002
When President Bush addressed the cadets of West Point the emphasis was on the word "before" eliminating threats - before they emerge. In other words if the United States perceives a danger, it will act when and where it chooses - with allies or alone - and it can do that because it has a military force unequaled in the world. On 9-11 an enemy had been revealed and a strategy of containing threats and deterring attacks would no longer be enough. Military planners realized that now there were no static lines of defense - the battle could and would be taken anywhere.
New York Times Television was granted extraordinary access to film this unique documentary that takes you to the edge of battle and shows how America’s military strategy was put into place. For five weeks, New York Times chief military correspondent Michael R. Gordon traveled through the Middle East and Africa, to get a first hand look at how the doctrine of preemption is driving the war against terror and how it effects the troops who were preparing for war with Iraq.
Gordon's journey captures the story of the tactical, military and technological muscle of the American forces. From a U.S. guided missile cruiser in the Arabian sea to an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf. From a small African country that is hosting U.S. Marines, Special Forces and the CIA, right to the border of Iraq where armored battalions train for war.
Show of Force takes you to the center of the action to show what this new military policy looks like in real life and features interviews with the architect of preemption - Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz - as well as critics who caution a policy of preemption may end up making more enemies than it defeats.
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Produced by New York Times Television for TLC
NTSC – 4:3
Total Running Time: 52 minutes
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