"Anticipatory Self-Defense" and Other Stories

Jeanne M. Woods, Loyola New Orleans School of Law
James M. Donovan, University of Georgia School of Law

Abstract

We argue that the specious justification for the invasion of Iraq -- a war based on a pretext of anticipatory self-defense -- necessarily exacerbates the inherent tendency of war to dehumanize and humiliate the enemy. This tendency is particularly evident in the variant of anticipatory self-defense that we have denominated as "capacity preemption," a type of claim that by definition depends upon characterizations of the opponent as utterly inhuman.

The Bush Doctrine tells a timeless story of self-defense. This story is shaped by an identifiable and predictable narrative structure, one that is able to transform the morally outrageous -- an unprovoked aggressive war -- into the legally reasonable. Utilizing the theoretical tools of anthropological structuralism, our analysis examines the rhetorical use of the anticipatory self-defense narrative to veil hidden agendas of domination and conquest.