That was the plan (at least as it was stated to the public). We were supposed to be replaced by the blue helmets. In and out, like the Persian Gulf War. And, wasn’t that the idea with Afghanistan? But, in both places, we got dragged into the mission of transforming the nations into viable democracies. Mission creep. The civilians thinking that the military, which is designed for one purpose, namely, destruction, could be used, along with “soft power” (i.e., international welfare), for another purpose, construction.
Let’s turn the clock back fifty years, to Jack Kennedy getting us into Viet Nam. It is thought, whimsically, that he would have avoided the mission creep. This is wishful thinking and contradicted by the fact that it was he who ordered the assassination of Diem. But, Jack Kennedy had the good fortune to depart the White House which shifted the mission creep to Lyndon Baines Johnson. Riding the ghost of JFK, Baines got re-elected in a landslide. But, two years later, the Republicans won the mid-term elections (outside of the still one-party South) and four years later, won the Presidency. That “go any where, bear any burden” thing really didn’t endear the Democrats to the American people.
On the other hand, having a strong national defense that precluded a military option to the communists, and waiting for the inevitable collapse of their system, we won the Cold War without having fired a shot. Ronbo saw the big picture. Which is why he supported a bulked up military and also refused to allow the country to get sucked into unwinnable situations like Lebanon.
“Ronbo saw the big picture. Which is why he supported a bulked up military and also refused to allow the country to get sucked into unwinnable situations like Lebanon”
Well, Reagan actually did get sucked into Lebanon, under the auspices of the Blue helmet to boot.
The only difference was Reagan was smart enough to get out quickly.