Of all the utterances George W. Bush made in his 2000 campaign for president none have been subsequently been disregarded quite the way "no more nation-building" has. The Bush administration might tell you 9/11 changed everything, but there is evidence people like Dick Cheney had a plan all along to build a group of U.S. friendly nations in the Middle East.

Regardless, nation building might be entering a new phase this week with the first ever U.S. military command for Africa, or Africom. The enormous continent had previously been divided up between three military commands. The plan for Africom, reports The New York Times’ Thom Shanker, is to bring the Pentagon together with the State Dept. and U.S. Agency for Intl. Development to improve conditions in Africa. Critics charge, though, that this is the militarization of foreign policy. Also, given the Bush administration’s track record, almost all African leaders have been cool to the idea, fearing U.S. military bases.-MB

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