Militias Within States

This article from TCS Daily suggests that if we build up weak states militarily, we'd have to do less nation building:

Armed groups take advantage of the weakness. Outside national borders, they carry out their own foreign policy, or that of their puppet-masters. Within national borders, they wage war against each other. And foreign powers affected by the freelancing retaliate against the weak central state, for lack of a clearer target.
If ever there was a case for a U.S. role in building up the military of weak but geopolitically important states, Lebanon is it...

The U.S. should not be so confused about its objectives. It is at war against terrorists who prey on weak states. It needs to prioritize its foreign policy goals and recognize how critical it is to help foreign security forces help themselves.
Helping central governments crush armed opponents is not pretty. But these days, as is evident on television, the risk of not helping them is less attractive, still.