On May 11, 2005, at 12:36 PM, Maru Dubshinki wrote:
On 5/11/05, Warren Ockrassa <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
So why, given the above, was Afghanistan not democratized and stabilized entirely? With a good solid pro-US government there, couldn't pressure have been mounted on other nations to force terrorists away? Wouldn't it have been much more useful to have a committed and strengthening ally on a border with Pakistan? (That is, two such -- India, and then Afghanistan.)
"I'm worried about an opponent who uses nation-building and the military in the same sentence. See, our view of the military is for our military to be properly prepared to fight and win war and, therefore, prevent war from happening in the first place." --Bush
Here's a snippet from a piece in the Boston Globe:
"At [presidential debate, October 11, 2000] Bush recalled that the U.S. humanitarian mission in Somalia -- begun by his father, President George H.W. Bush -- had "changed into a nation-building mission, and that's where the mission went wrong."
He was referring to the deaths of 18 U.S. Army rangers who were killed in Mogadishu on Oct. 3-4, 1993, after a gun battle. U.S. forces were soon withdrawn from Somalia.
"The mission was changed, and as a result, our nation paid a price," Bush continued. "And so I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation building." "
~Maru Hope that helps
Not really. :(
We're "nation-building" now, and in 2002, the field had changed in two important respects.
Bush was commenting, in 2000, from a standpoint of being a theorist rather than someone having to make tough decisions; also, it's arguable that what he was saying *then* reflected what he believed the US electorate wanted to hear, not what he really felt to be true.
No, I'm looking for something a lot more current, like post-9/11/01 but pre-Iraq assault.
-- Warren Ockrassa, Publisher/Editor, nightwares Books http://books.nightwares.com/ Current work in progress "The Seven-Year Mirror" http://www.nightwares.com/books/ockrassa/Flat_Out.pdf
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