(15. Mai 2005) In the secret world of military planning, global strike has become the term of art to describe a specific preemptive attack. (..)

a confluence of events, beginning with the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and the president‘s forthright commitment to the idea of preemptive action to prevent future attacks, has set in motion a process that has led to a fundamental change in how the U.S. military might respond to certain possible threats. Understanding how we got to this point, and what it might mean for U.S. policy, is particularly important now — with the renewed focus last week on Iran‘s nuclear intentions and on speculation that North Korea is ready to conduct its first test of a nuclear weapon.