Neo-cons more interested in power than security?

The Washington Post's Fred Hiatt has this interesting critique of Bush's foreign policy in which he makes the case that Bush has been far more pragmatic than his rhetoric might suggest:

But in Bush's first term, democracy promotion seemed to be the policy mostly when it was convenient: in Palestine, where it allowed him to avoid confrontation with Israel's leader; in Cuba, where it allowed him to win votes in Florida. If you see him in the next four years risking other U.S. interests to champion liberty where it is not so convenient, then you will know he meant what he said on the campaign trail.

This observation raises interesting questions given that moderate Colin Powell may well be replaced with neo-con Condi Rice as Secretary of State. In a couple of recent conversations with Michael Lind of the New America Foundation, Lind has made the case that the neo-cons driving the Bush administration's foriegn policy are more concerned with American power than American security and that the two do not necessarily coincide.