The truth is that when Reagan was confronted with Soviet aggression,
he was all talk and no action. He did engage in a little covert
action against Central America and Afghanistan, and a few made-for-TV
wars against opponents like Grenada, but those were foes so weak that
even the Harlem Globetrotters would be ashamed to take them on. As
Wills points out, Reagan responded to Soviet provocations, and
Mideast terrorist bombings that resulted in massive American
casualties, by doing ... nothing.
"When the Soviets imposed martial law in Poland, shot down a Korean
airliner, backed Syria in the Lebanon war with Israel, and continued
building the European pipeline, Reagan did not 'go to the source' of
what he called all the world's troubles," Wills wrote. "He did not
even punish weaker intermediaries -- by letting Poland go into
default, for instance, or mounting a punitive raid in Lebanon after
the truck bombing that killed 241 marines." His passivity enraged his
right-wing supporters, who wanted him to break out the big stick.
Jeane Kirkpatrick wrote that "Ronald Reagan resembles Jimmy Carter
more than anyone conceived possible."
Wills argues that Reagan, for all his hard-edged rhetoric -- or
perhaps because of it -- never really had the stomach for military
confrontation. In his sunny imaginary world, all conflicts would be
resolved magically. "Reagan was always Reagan, trusting more to words
than actions, to weapons bought than weapons used. He actually
believed that if one just took a tough stance, then bullies would
scatter. When they failed to, he bought a bigger bomb and assumed it
would work next time." Faced with bad news, Reagan would simply deny
that anything had happened or adroitly change the subject. The day
after the Beirut bombing, Reagan invaded Grenada, and when soon
afterward he pulled U.S. troops out of Lebanon, the public didn't
hold him accountable for the debacle. Monomaniacal obsession would be
utterly foreign to Reagan, who thundered against terrorism but cut
and ran when terrorists blew up U.S. troops in Lebanon.
On Sep 12, 2007, at 9:58 PM, Kevin Brown wrote:
--- In AsburyPark@yahoogroups.com, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
>
>
> In a message dated 9/12/2007 6:10:28 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
> [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
>
> Clinton made a mockery of the office.
>
> Only after several years of dogging (Whitewater etc) of Clinton.
Finally he
> was outed for a BJ. Some Americans saw that a waste of 60+
million dollars
> + in investigations. How'd he win reelection if the office was
mocked. The
> tight ass religious right who used a private sex to enhance their
> self-righteousness.
>
> Europeans thought we were foolish about the issue.
>
>
> Bush has lost our respect and integrity around the world.
Thankfully most
> are anti_Bush, not anti-American. We'll need multilateral
cooperation among
> the various diplomatic corps and other agencies world-wide to
curtail terrorism.
>
> That bumper sticker: "When Clinton lied, no one died."
>
>
>
>
> ************************************** See what's new at
http://www.aol.com
>
In Somalia he punked out and left Rangers & spec ops people stranded!
Wanna put that on a bumer sticker?
KB
