Nation Building 101

A younger, humbler George W. Bush once said, "I don't think our troops should be used for what's called nation building."How times change. A strategy document released recently by U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, with the tacit approval of the president, might as well have been titled "Three cheers for nation building." The authors avoided using the precise phrase but its carefully worded substitutes are hard to miss."Our commitment to democratic values must be matched by our deeds," the document exhorts. Extremist groups thrive in "ungoverned, under-governed and mis-governed areas," it warns. Thus America must "help foster security and aid local authorities in building effective systems of representational government."(Goooooo nation building!)According to James Dobbins, author of the RAND Corporation's nation building studies, U.S. intervention had increased from roughly one country every ten years during the Cold War to one every two years during the Clinton administration. Bush invaded three countries in his first three years in office. That's a pretty steep trend line. more..http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=13673