restoring our biblical and constitutional foundations
Bush, the Nation Builder
With President Bushs credibility being called into question due to his apparent mishandling of CIA intelligence and a bogus Iraq-Al-Qaeda connection, it seems strange that the fact that he has broken a campaign promise has received but scant notice in the press.
While running against Al Gore, Bush clearly stated his opposition to nation building. During the second presidential debate, he specifically questioned the Clinton administrations use of troops on nation building missions, referring to Haiti and Somalia, politically unstable countries where Clinton had tried to use U.S. troops to restore peace. This was clearly a dig at Al Gore, who as vice president staunchly supported Clintons deployment of American soldiers abroad.
Now in the White House, Bushs approach to foreign policy is radically different from the one he rallied against during the campaign. Nothing shows this more clearly than his toppling of governments in Afghanistan and Iraq, where he is now doing exactly what he criticized Clinton and Gore of doing: nation building.
Many conservatives supported the war against Iraq based on their belief that that nation posed a serious threat to American national security, not on any desire to free the Iraqi people or to remake their nation in the image of the United States. Yet what do we find today? U.S. military forces spending billions of dollars struggling to put that broken nation back together again, including such mundane matters as water and electrical supply and even garbage collection.
During the Clinton administration, Democrats demanded that the president set an exit strategy for U.S. troops to leave the Balkans, yet it looks like our occupation of Iraq will go on indefinitely. Bush also pledged during the campaign to be humble in his foreign policy. During the Wake Forest debate he declared, It really depends upon how our nation conducts its foreign policy. If were an arrogant nation, theyll resent us. If were a humble nation, theyll respect us. Yet hubris seems the watchword of the day.
Many experts believe that Bushs attempt to establish a secular democracy in Iraq is part of a larger plan to set up a domino reaction in the Arab states of the Middle East. The administration has said, The United States has no intention of determining the precise form of Iraqs new government . All Iraqis must have a voice in the new government, and all citizens must have their rights protected. Yet what if the Iraqis decide they want an Islamic government based on Muslim ideals? Again, the administration has promised, We will remain in Iraq as long as necessary and not a day more. The fact is that we are still in the Balkans and Afghanistan, not to mention Japan and Germany!
As Charley Reese pointed out recently, Bush is beginning to sound more and more like Bill Clinton: say whatever sounds good in your public pronouncements, and then consider it optional when making policy. Bush is all for nation building. And until we face this fact, our brave soldiers will continue to be resisted by enemies who resent it.
July 23, 2003
David Alan Black is the editor of www.daveblackonline.com.