Quotation is from the October 3, 2000 Presidential debate with Al Gore, but is taken out of context. Bush was paraphrasing Colin Powell and Norman Schwarzkopf:
The other day, I was honored to be flanked by Colin Powell and General Norman Schwarzkopf, who stood by my side and agreed with me. They said we could, even though we're the strongest military, that if we don't do something quickly, we don't have a clearer vision of the military, if we don't stop extending our troops all around the world in nation-building missions, then we're going to have a serious problem coming down the road. And I'm going to prevent that. I'm going to rebuild our military power. It's one of the major priorities of my administration. http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2000/debates/transcripts/u221003.html
Attributed, Misquotations
“[the U. S. mission in Somalia] Started off as a humanitarian mission and it changed into a nation-building mission, and that's where the mission went wrong. The mission was changed. And as a result, our nation paid a price. And so I don't think our troops ought to be used for what's called nation-building.”
Presidential debate, October 11, 2000 http://www.debates.org/?page=october-11-2000-debate-transcript
2000s, 2000
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George W. Bush 675
43rd President of the United States 1946Related quotes
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