Preemptive attack

Preemptive attack is a military doctrine in which an actor uses military force on an opponent that it believes it is about to attack the actor. It is a spoiling attack to disrupt the preparations for offensive warfare, and implies a response to an immediate danger. It is considered an action of self-defense within the scope of the It contrast, a preventive attack is intended to spoil a capability, not being readied for immediate attack, which presents a long-term threat. A preemptive attack may or may not be intended to completely stop a potential war. Patrons of a country receiving such an attack are wise to move cautiously until it is determined if the attack is part of a larger offensive campaign.

The National Security Strategy of the United States, as stated by the George W. Bush Administration, does consider preventive war as one of many grand strategic options against terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.

The term suggests that the opponent has immediate hostile intentions to the actor. Examples would be the Israeli attack on Egyptian and Syrian airfields where aircraft were massing for the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.

While prevention is usually assumed to start from a condition of relevant peace, the term has been used to describe attacks against operational military facilities, of an overt opponent, such as the Allied attacks, as part of Operation CROSSBOW, against launching ramps and actual V-1 cruise missiles. In contrast, the major Briticsh bombing raids against the German long-range guided missile development center at Peenemunde were preventive. This, of course, was within the context of an ongoing war, and indeed a larger operational plan against missile threat, Operation CROSSBOW.

In the contemporary context, the term is accepted for an attack on a terrorist group about to stage an operation, or a weapon of mass destruction actively being prepared for use. The Iraq War, however, was described as preventive rather than preemptive, although it was justified, in part, as a security measure against terror and WMD.