Pete Domenici: “It bothers my mind, as I look at Iraq, and Afghanistan, Somalia, and the possibility now of Liberia and other countries…”

“It bothers my mind, as I look at Iraq, and Afghanistan, Somalia, and the possibility now of Liberia and other countries, and I want to talk about some words that we Americans and our leaders have been using ever since I was a little kid and for all the years I was here. We used to say: we don't want to build countries. We are not in the business of constructing countries. We don't want to be called upon to put a country together. We don't want to be the builders of countries-- leaving the distinct impression that we want the other countries to build themselves up. The Senator and I would not object to that, as a thesis. That sounds like a theology of Americans. But Mr. President, I say to my good friend, the problem is that it almost implies that we will not put together the ability, the capacity to help a country build itself. We must, as a nation, it seems to this Senator, have within our Government the capacity to help a country such as Iraq build itself up--or a country such as Afghanistan.”