For the most part ABC News anchor Charles Gibson's interview with
Governor Sarah Palin was fair. As expected, Gibson included a "gotcha"
question. He asked her what she thought of the "Bush Doctrine." Clearly
she did not have a ready answer. Later he told her that the Bush
Doctrine was the presumption that if we know a country is preparing to
attack, the USA has the right to a preemptive strike. She gave a
general reply that the United States has a right to its own defense and
must do whatever intelligence suggests.
The next day liberals and even some conservatives pronounced that
Palin's answer was proof that she was not ready to be President. Because
of McCain's age this has become a live issue and may be taking a bit of
the bloom off the rose.
Can we really blame her for being confused? There are several
pronouncements which have been termed the Bush Doctrine. This was
spelled out by Michael Abramowitz in a front page article in the
Washington Post on September 13. He quotes Peter D. Feaver, who worked
on the Bush National Security Council Staff, as saying there are at
least seven Bush pronouncements which have been called the Bush
Doctrine. This immediately became a hot issue on the political blogs.
Liberals said her answer demonstrated her thin grasp of foreign policy.
Conservatives, said Abramowitz, said she handled the question well by
asking Gibson to clarify what he meant by the Bush Doctrine. Liberal
journalist James Fallows charged that Pallin did not recognize the Bush
name and this, he said, demonstrated "a lack of attention to any
foreign-policy discussions whatsoever in the last seven years."
Her replies regarding Russia and Georgia indicated that statement was
somewhat exaggerated. The existence of the Bush Doctrine, or many Bush
doctrines, was disputed by Philip D. Zelikow, who was State Department
Counselor under Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
He told the Post, "I believe the assertion that there is such a doctrine
lends greater coherence to the Administration's policies than they
deserve."