Posted on 09/12/2001 9:17:49 PM PDT by Heisenburger
What if Ronald Reagan were President? There may be bets that his action would be severe, and would already have come, but we have yet to see what Bush will do, and we can be sure it will be a justified "orgy of death." We can also be sure that Reagan would never have acted without full planning and knowledge of the outcome. No, if Ronald Reagan were President, the retaliation would not have already come, and it probably wouldn't be worse than what Bush will launch.
Still, when Ronald Reagan was President, not everyone liked us, but everyone feared us. The Taliban, Iran, and Hussein would be far too afraid of repercusions to fund and approve of the sort of large-scale attacks those governments undoubtedly had a hand in yesterday.
Unfortunately for us, we have been led by a weakling, a liar, and a traitor for 8 long years, and though the adults are indeed back in charge, the image of the U.S. created by Bill Clinton in the enemies of the United States was that of a weak-kneed, sex-addicted, irrational, and cowardly nation. That image has not yet been erased from the minds of those who would challenge the United States. Erasing that image is Bush's duty, and the sooner he uses the full force of the large, heavy pink eraser known as the United State Military, the better.
Look, part of the terrorist movement was subsidized by the US under Reagan, Remember the Mujahadeen in Afganistan ?
Reagan was a great president, but that was 20 years ago, and he made many mistakes, like all of us do.
There was NO effective retaliation for those bombings. Let us pray that Bush has studied some history, and does the right thing now.
One local radio host made the observation they were no less celebratory than we were when we assaulted Bagdad in the early '90s.
In the dozens of hours of coverage I've watched, I've only seen one loop of tape which has been reported from Jerusalem as well as at least two other locations. Well, that one street scene can't be from all three now can it? So where is it?
If this had been the overwhelming sentiment of the Palestinian people, you'd have seen more than a handful on an Israeli street. I haven't see evidence of widespread celebration which, as much as we may dislike, may well seem as justified from their view as we felt in striking Iraq or any number of targets. The reactions I've seen around FR calling to 'cleanse' the world of all Arabs from Palestine to Pakistan with nuclear weapons is unfathomably hate-filled in the absense of real and credible evidence that this was more than a well funded, organized group of nutcases regardless of ethnicity or claimed religious faith.
In light of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, don't believe for a second that the 'celebration' couldn't have been staged. IMHO, it's best to ignore this meaningless show and focus on more important things: the dead in NY, the dead in PA, the dead in WA, the reality of not only terrorism hitting our nation by using commercial airliners as guided missles but also in light of the White House acknowledgement it (VP Cheney, others) and Air Force One (Pres Bush) were intended targets. We very damned near ended up with an unelected President Hassert.
Bush needs to build the same kind of coalition his father built before the gulf war. Only a sustained, coordinated effort by the world communty led by the US will solve this problem.
I'm going to safely presume neither of us are or were in a position to know whether or how far Reagan was successful in countering terrorism. We don't know how effective or what wide range of retaliatory options were used to respond to those bombings. We don't know how many potential terrorist acts were thwarted under his watch. What is obvious is you have a specific concept of what "effective retaliation" is or would have been and you haven't seen your fantasies be realized.
What we *do* know is the acts which took place during his administration were *not* of this sort, not on our soil. We also know Bush is reaping the seeds sown and allowed to grow under the eight years of W.J. Clinton, a president who "declared war on terrorism" a president who attacked a number of targets (the infamous "asprin factory", among others) in the name of striking at Bin Ladin. He never dealt with Bin Ladin (being suggested as likely involved in this assault on the U.S.) and his organization and history, at least, should hold Clinton accountable for his ineptitude and the failure of his "feckless foreign policy".
Cheers, CC
I agree with you there. My mother's outraged at the suggestion we'd coalition build and not simply act on our own. However, I see the wisdom in what the Bush team hopes to accomplish and pray they're successful.
Make that newbie asshole!?!
'First, there are not more tapes of Palestinians celebrating because the PA has threatened to kill any news people who broadcast them. There are at least three other tapes, but they are not being shown. Second, there are reliable reports of Muslims IN AMERICA celebrating last night- is it some double-secret Muslim holiday, or are they just happy that more than twenty THOUSAND Americans have died horrible deaths?
Third, "WA" is the postal abbreviation for the State of Washington- NOT Washington, DC, you moron! Also, the Speaker of the House is Dennis HASTERT (NOT "Hassert").
Or are you not an American- perhaps you are posting from Kabul or Baghdad? If so, better find a hole and crawl in it- it won't save your miserable life, but it will save us the trouble of burying you after the bombing!
In any event, "NEVER AGAIN!"
This is a crisis. The Chinese symbol for "crisis" is said to be a combination of that for "danger" and that for "opportunity". What is the danger, and what the opportunity?
The danger is that our response will fail politically, destabilizing the Middle East. The opportunity is the converse. How to avoid the danger? By restraint. How to work the opportunity? By listening.
That combination of actions would have put tremendous political pressure on the UN and all others who fancy themselves more righteous than thou about peace. If W just stood there and said to them, "Now what?" they would all be smoked out--either they would take steps to undermine the killers politically, or they would come up with some version of "what did you expect? You Americans were breathing! How dare you?
And W just stands there while his aides take names. Then he figures out what is necessary.
See Gulf war, Bush, Sr., Coalition, and world community. I'm not a NWO type, but this is the perfect time and place for it. Its the only way to effectivly combat the terorrist. They seek to divide and frighten.
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