US

US tags Iran as biggest threat

(Agencies)
Updated: 2006-03-16 17:09

Making no apologies for the war in Iraq, the United States reaffirmed a right to preemptive military action and vowed to confront threats like North Korea and especially Iran.

Iranian policewomen stand at attention during their graduation ceremony at the police academy in Tehran March 11, 2006. [Reuters]

"We may face no greater challenge from a single country than from Iran," the White House said in a 49-page blueprint called the "National Security Stategy" of the United States, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.

North Korea "presents a long and bleak record of duplicity and bad-faith negotiations" the document said, warning: "We will continue to take all necessary measures to protect our national and economic security against the adverse effects of their bad conduct."

The document made clear that Washington does not view the failure to find the weapons of mass destruction (WMD) at the core of the public case for the 2003 invasion of Iraq as a blow against its strategy of preventive war.

"The place of preemption in our national security strategy remains the same," it said. "We do not rule out the use of force before attacks occur, even if uncertainty remains as to the time and place of the enemy's attack."

US President George W. Bush had made former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's alleged possession of chemical and biological weapons and pursuit of nuclear arms the centerpiece of his case for war, but no such weapons have been found.

"There will always be some uncertainty" about banned weapons programs, the White House said. "We have no doubt that the world is better of if tyrants know that they pursue WMD at their own peril."