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  Democrats and Nation-Building
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ContributorTony82 
Last EditedTony82  Sep 19, 2003 10:15am
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CategoryCommentary
MediaNewspaper - Washington Post
News DateFriday, September 19, 2003 06:00:00 AM UTC0:0
DescriptionFor more than a year, the Democratic mantra on Afghanistan was that President Bush was not doing enough -- not spending enough money, not building the army fast enough, not deploying troops to tame the warlords. The charge was neglect and aversion to nation-building. The result? Afghanistan is "falling back into chaos," said Al Gore last November...

Nonetheless, it is useful to have the Democratic opposition make the case for nation-building. This year, however, the Democrats have adopted the opposite tune, denouncing the administration for ambitious, budget-busting nation-building in Iraq...

Iraq does not just have infinitely more potential for recovery, it has vastly greater strategic importance. Afghanistan has a kind of negative strategic importance. Our basic objective there is simply to keep it out of the hands of the bad guys. But it is hardly going to be a central locus of American power or pro-Western sentiment in the region.

Baghdad, on the other hand, one of the three great Arab capitals, is a powerful regional actor. Its transformation from a bastion of radical pan-Arabism and anti-Americanism to a peaceful, pro-Western capital would have a revolutionary effect on both inter-Arab relations and the political trajectory of the entire region. The stakes could not be higher.
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