back to main page

A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON BUILDING NATIONS
 

(June 22, 2006)

[It] started off as a humanitarian mission and it changed into a nation-building mission, and that's where the mission went wrong. The mission was changed. And as a result, our nation paid a price. And so I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation-building. I think our troops ought to be used to fight and win war. I think our troops ought to be used to help overthrow the dictator when it's in our best interests. But in this case it was a nation-building exercise, and same with Haiti. I wouldn't have supported either.
....

But we can't be all things to all people in the world, Jim. And I think that's where maybe the vice president and I begin to have some differences. I'm worried about overcommitting our military around the world. I want to be judicious in its use. You mentioned Haiti. I wouldn't have sent troops to Haiti. I didn't think it was a mission worthwhile. It was a nation building mission, and it was not very successful. It cost us billions, a couple billions of dollars, and I'm not so sure democracy is any better off in Haiti than it was before.
 

Speaker: President George W. Bush
Title: Second Presidential Debate
Location: Winston-Salem, NC
Date: 10/11/2000

Perhaps September 11, 2001, exactly 11 months later to the day,  changed the administration's whole nation building perspective.   But not according to the President's former Treasury Secretary.

Cost of the Iraq war to date?   Estimates vary, but, conservatively, somewhere over  a quarter of a trillion dollars (This site keeps a running count, based upon Congressional Appropriations. Current figure as of today, June 22, is approximately $290,370,000.00).  No price can be put on our freedom and national security. But the real question, considering that our enemy is al-Qaeda and not Iraq, is; could that money have been better spent in the broader war on terror?  

back to main page