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The question about '''preemptive war''' is whether it is an act of self-defense or an act of aggression. By its very nature, it is a unilateral "first strike", unsupported by the rule of international law absent an imminent threat (a [[clear and present danger]]), and accomplished by the ability to use overwhelming force.

"A preemptive attack (or preemptive war) is waged in an attempt to repel or defeat an imminent offensive or invasion, or to gain a strategic advantage in an impending (usually unavoidable) war.

"The intention with a preemptive strike is to gain the advantage of initiative and to harm the enemy at a moment of minimal protection," particularly when the enemy is vulnerable. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preemptive_war]

In 1841, U.S. Secretary of State Daniel Webster "articulated a set of demanding criteria for acting with a 'necessity of self-defense'—in particular for a legitimate use of preemptive force. Preemption, Webster said, is justified only in response to an imminent threat; moreover, the force must be necessary for self-defense and can be deployed only after nonlethal measures and attempts to dissuade the adversary from acting had failed. Furthermore, a preemptive attack must be limited to dealing with the immediate threat and must discriminate between armed and unarmed, innocent and guilty." [http://www.bostonreview.net/BR28.1/crawford.html]

"The [[International Court of Justice]] (ICJ) spelled out exactly what no nation can legally do in light of its commitments to uphold the [[United Nations|U.N.]] Charter: 'Thus it would be illegal for a state to threaten force to secure territory from another State, or to cause it to follow or not follow certain political or economic paths'," according to Ann Fagan Ginger, Executive Director of the Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute. [http://www.mcli.org/law/federal/war_is_preventive.html]

"The prevailing view probably is that, one way or another, anticipatory self-defense is permissible but traditionally has required the existence of an imminent threat," writes Steven C. Walsh, research analyst at the [[Center for Defense Information]]. [http://www.cdi.org/news/law/preemptive-war.cfm]