The phrase was first used by
Charles Krauthammer in June 2001<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-WAPO_KRATUHAMMER_20080913_0-0>
[1]</SUP> to describe the Bush Administration's unilateral withdrawals from the
ABM treaty and the
Kyoto Protocol. The phrase initially described the policy that the United States had the right to secure itself against countries that harbor or give aid to terrorist groups, which was used to justify the 2001
invasion of Afghanistan.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-NYT_Weisman_20020413_1-0>
[2]</SUP>
Different pundits would attribute different meanings to "the Bush Doctrine", as it came to describe other elements, including the controversial policy of
preventive war, which held that the United States should
depose foreign regimes that represented a potential or perceived threat to the security of the United States, even if that threat was not immediate; a policy of spreading democracy around the world, especially in the
Middle East, as a strategy for combating terrorism; and a willingness to
unilaterally pursue
U.S. military interests.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Time_Allen_20070502_2-0>
[3]</SUP><SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-NationalReview_Levin_20060816_3-0>
[4]</SUP><SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-USAtoday_Page_20030317_4-0>
[5]</SUP>