WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States will not shy away from first strikes when it acts against terrorists, Vice President Dick Cheney told a group of world conservatives Monday.
In a speech to the International Democrat Union, Cheney said a strike-first military policy is necessary because past approaches to world security -- Cold War deterrence, summit meetings and treaties -- will not work against terrorists who have no single base of operation and "nothing to defend."
"Grave threats are accumulating against us, and inaction will only bring them closer," Cheney said. "We will not wait until it is too late."
The IDU, a collection of conservative and moderate-to-rightist politicians, responded favorably to the anti-terror coalition President Bush has assembled. The group was considering a resolution on terrorism, and was to have dinner with Bush at the White House.
"There is a strong sense of commitment and support to the administration and to the people of the United States," said Australian Prime Minister John Howard. "You have our strong support and the deep commitment of like-minded countries and governments all around the world."
Bush plans to formalize the "strike first" military policy when he submits his first national security strategy to Congress by early fall.
White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Monday that the document would incorporate various foreign relations and national security policies that Bush has articulated since Sept. 11, including new demands that poor countries make political and economic reforms in order to receive U.S. aid.
Cheney did not refer to Bush's pending written policy, but emphasized that the United States has a special responsibility to initiate military action if it will thwart grand-scale terrorist plots before they happen.
"The nature and scale of the challenge we face became apparent last year on the morning of Sept. 11," Cheney said. "It is now clear that every aspiration we have for the countries we serve -- our prosperity, our security and the peace of the world -- all depend upon our answer to that threat of global terror."
Specifically, he said, Iraq poses a threat because its leader, Saddam Hussein, has shown a willingness to use weapons of mass destruction, and because there is potential for Saddam's government to link up with terrorist networks.
"Containment is not possible when unbalanced dictators with weapons of mass destruction can deliver those weapons on missiles, or secretly provide them to their terrorist allies," Cheney said. "We have a responsibility to protect ourselves against future attack, to prepare our military for all future threats, to maintain the global coalition we have built to defeat global terror, and to take pre-emptive action when necessary."
Such a pre-emptive stance is a departure from the decades-old Cold War policies built around the theory that an enemy would not attack the United States because such an attack would mean a certain and devastating retaliatory strike.
"A group like al-Qaida cannot be deterred or placated or reasoned with at a conference table," Cheney said. "For that reason, this struggle will not end with a treaty or accommodation of terrorists. It can only end in their complete and utter destruction."
Bush articulated his "strike first" doctrine in a June 1 commencement address at West Point, where he vowed to "take the battle to the enemy, disrupt its plans, and confront the worst threats before they emerge."
The IDU is comprised of representatives from more than 60 countries and 80 political parties. It was formed in 1983 by former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, then-Vice President George Bush, French President Jacques Chirac and former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl.
Republican National Committee spokesman Jim Dyke said the group focuses on exchanging ideas that forward conservative politics.
"It's a chance for like-minded, center-right parties to share their experiences in order to achieve electoral success," he said.'
