First blow

the long version

Totten offers an "in-depth, historical examination of the use of preemptive and preventive force through the lens of the just war tradition. The moral tradition, he shows, shaped the law of force and arguably represents how most Americans think about war. Although concluding that the incursion into Iraq does not met the test, Totten nonetheless argues that the new terrorist threat demands careful consideration of when the first use of force is legitimate. Tracing the evolving rule on the first use of force, Totten shows that imminence was always tempered by the more fundamental requirement of necessity. He concludes that the moral tradition provides a principled way forward, reconciling American values and the demands of security"--Jacket.