B*sh was right about one thing -- Nation Building

[KurtNYC]

Candidate B*sh spoke strongly against using our military for nation building. During the debate on 10/11/2000, B*sh said that the mission in Somalia had changed into a nation-building mission, and that's where the mission went wrong." He said also I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation building." Even a broken clock is right twice a day and he parroted the truth in those instances.

But Iraq has been a nation building mission pretty much from the start. Remember when the design was bomb them to the stone age, oust Saddam and then rebuilding the country, aka "nation", using their oil revenue to do so? Basically, the GOP loaded this experiment in nation building into a giant Trojan Horse named "the war on terror" and in that guise, few dared to oppose it.

But their experiment has failed and continues to fail horribly. Iraq is now the poster child for why nation building should not even be attempted with the military. It isn't a "war" now so much as it is an occupation / nation building mission. It is un-winnable because it is NOT a war anymore. You don't win an occupation, you endure it. Many people are against war but far, far more are against nation building. B*sh knew this when he hammered away at Gore with this phrase. In hindsight, it was totally hypocritical, even disingenuous of B*sh, but so be it. He brought that card to the table and he played it. Now it is our turn. Calling Iraq a war makes it harder to properly separate it in the minds of many Americans from the War on Terror. Calling it nation building makes it unpalatable to far more people, including the people who agreed with B*sh back in 2000. To that end I propose some new sound-bites:

"Iraq is a failed experiment in nation building."
"Our military should not be used for nation building in Iraq."
"We need to end this failed experiment in nation building in Iraq."

[Jim__]

1. "...far, far more are against nation building...."

I really hope that your statement: Many people are against war but far, far more are against nation building.

Nation building is certainly a risky and difficult endeavor. War is suicidal.

I agree that you can't nation build with the military. However, it does not follow from that that you should not try to nation build. You need the right circumstances. You need the right tools. But, overall, it can be a far more productive endeavor than war. We should not lose sight of that fact.

[KurtNYC]

2. Fair enough - I should have said "against using the military for NB"

I did consider the whole concept of nation building and there are some areas of the world that could use help but the military is not the way to do it.

I think people on the Right get very hung up on the idea of "winning" so I think it is useful when talking to them to reiterate the fact that Iraq is not a war anymore.

[lyonn]

3. Along with those sound bites should be bush's film clip

stating he was against Nation Building. I even remember that from his speech.

Along with the nation building issue should be the "why" issue we invaded Iraq. We need the film clip from the UN Inspectors saying they needed more time to search for the WMD's as they had found "nothing" so far and had full cooperation from Saddam. The inspectors even asked Rummy and the intel bunch that "knew" where the stuff was to be more specific. But, bush did pull the inspectors out. Oh how bush hated that damn UN report saying that they had found no evidence. Then flash around the Downing Street Memo as a reminder of bush's intent to invade no matter.