[Txsleuth]

Do you think that if Reagan HAD done something, rather than leave Lebanon...that possibly al-queda might have not become what they are??

After all, it has been said that Bin Ladin HAS seen the times that America has "left" rather than stay and fight, as a weakness...and gave him more reason to believe he would take down the mighty USA...

[akron]

I don't think Reagan leaving Lebanon had anything to do with the growth of Al Queda. Would you have preferred Reagan poured the troops in, incurring 50,000 casualties, and then coming to the same conclusion? I don't see where we would have been any better off then than we are now. Reagan knew to cut his losses.

Bush disregards sound military advice, unless you consider Rumsfeld one of the great ground commanders in history. He also lacks the will to prosecute a war. Fallujah should have been leveled by artillery. Bush will go down in history just like LBJ. A free-spending Texan, who fought an unpopular war according to his own concept, while setting the stage for runaway inflation ten years down the road.

Reagan oversaw the great buildup of American forces intimidated the Soviets and led to the 100-hour ground war in 1991. Bush believes in doing more with less.

[You Dirty Rats]

Do you think that if Reagan HAD done something, rather than leave Lebanon...that possibly al-queda might have not become what they are?? After all, it has been said that Bin Ladin HAS seen the times that America has "left" rather than stay and fight, as a weakness...and gave him more reason to believe he would take down the mighty USA...

bin Laden was a nobody in the early 1980's. He got his panties in a bunch when GHWB stationed troops in Saudi Arabia prior to kicking Saddam out of Kuwait. Blaming Reagan even in part for OBL's theory that we won't fight is quite a reach.

It is ironic though that Reagan, who did not do very well in the Middle East, is compared favorably to GWB who at least, as did his father, fight Saddam and other radicals.