Oops, make that two exceptions ... but Grenada was easily foreseen to be a quick operation not costing hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars.
The CIA(and US military advisors) involvement in Nicaragua was cost free.
Straw man ... I didn't say paleos thought nation building was never worth ANY cost.
And of course Lebanon doesn't count because it was an exception.
Reagan once signed a tax hike ... was he therefore not a tax-cutter?
How about the first Gulf War? According to the Paleo King, Pat Buchanan, that was a nation building project of the Amen Corner. Is restoring a previous legally legitimate Government OK by you?
Yes; if Buchanan thought Gulf War I was objectionable nation-building, I disagree.
So you agree with me. It's not a question of whether Nation Building is the American way, it's a question of whether we are trying to rebuild a large or tiny country as to whether you would agree.
The only legitimate criteria is whether it is in the reasonable American interest. Was Nation Building in Germany and Japan and.....Grenada legitimate. Why? where is it not legitimate? Why
What ever reason for either answer you give the conclusion is that Nation Building is as American as Apple Pie since the US became a world superpower. Where it should be attempted is the only issue.