[fintstone]

Originally Posted by WI wide body

Well, if memory serves me right I think that I simply mentioned that Bush was Gov. Bush when he made the statement...which he was. You made the issue out of it.

But this has gone on far too long. Let's just agree that the current President Bush...back when he was Gov. Bush in April of 2000 made the "nation building" statement and like nearly everyone who heard the debate or looks at the transcript I also do not believe he meant, intended, or was talking about only Haiti.

Amen.

Your memory fails you in this case.

The statement you quoted to start this thread was specifically about Haiti and perhaps Columbia. The President mentioned it in the sentence just prior to your quote and Vice President Gore immediately responded with a remark about Haiti. Apparently both of them knew what was being discussed. Other portions of the debate were indeed more general...referring to our misadventures in nation-building in Somalia, the Balkans, etc. The President certainly was not referring to Iraq.

Many people understood that the President was clearly referring to Haiti in that specific quote. Here is one of many examples:
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2004/04/b45300.html