[mnehring]

In Reagan Diaries, he discusses how Lebanon was a proxy war against the Soviet backed Syrians, and while he regretted leaving, he was basically making a strategic decision where to take on the proxy war against he Soviets. The biggest concern Reagan laid out was that the Lebanese were not willing to fight with us against the Soviet backed Syrians, they basically laid down their arms.

Remember, the bombing of the embassy in Beirut happened the night before we invaded Grenada. We were fighting proxy wars against the Soviets on several fronts.

[DoughtyOne]

If Lebanon was not ready to take on Syria, then it was a stumble to go in to start with. Either Reagan wasn’t advised well, or he made a decision and backed off on his own. I tend to think he wasn’t advised well, but that’s conjecture.

I do think Iraq was an evil empire in it’s own right. I believe it was part of a breeding ground of terrorism. I support what we have done there.