The Politics of Nation-Building

The Politics of Nation-Building

"We must make sure that the deployment of our troops is not merely the appetizer and that the main course becomes . . . an outbreak of nation-building and infrastructure construction and resources which are . . . not within our capacity to provide for everyone around the world."

After eight years of operations in Afghanistan, and the recent announcement that additional troop deployments will continue to execute a strategy that stretches the military beyond its traditional combat role for at least another 18 months, the above quotation could easily convey the commitment-fatigue prevalent in Washington these days.

But the ominous warning, delivered on the Senate floor, has nothing to do with the fear of becoming further mired in a long-term humanitarian mission in Afghanistan.

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