In a debate between presidential nominees Al Gore and George Bush at Wake Forest University on October 11, 2000, “Based on the previous [Clinton] administration’s failed attempt at nation building in this case [Somalia] and its inconclusive efforts in Haiti, Bush said, ‘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.’ Bristling at the thought of converting the U.S. military into a ‘nation-building corps,’ Bush said his administration would ‘absolutely not’ let this happen.”
– Stefan Halper and Jonathan Clarke, America Alone, Page 135