[Diddle E. Squat]

Nice rant you got going there. Reagan? I take it you were on Mars when Reagan withdrew the US Marines from Beirut after the marines barracks had been bombed with over 240 Marines dead? You don't know what you re talking about. And you have no idea what happened during the Reagan administration either. The drive-by media relentlessly attacked Reagan, portraying him as some kind of amiable idiot.

Nice try. I remember the millions marching in Germany against upgrading NATO defenses and missile deployment, when the European public sentiment appeared more vocal and averse to the US than it does now. Yet Reagan still led. I remember having to avoid areas that were American when I was over there after the Berlin disco bombing and our strikes on Tripoli. I remember my roomate having to run out of a Paris subway station after an evacuation announcement and subsequent bombing. I remember the pounding he took from the media, some of which would not be responded to much. But on important matters he would challenge them or go over their heads to talk directly to the public whenever it was necessary, and to the extent necessary. Volume and quantity wasn't the issue, but effectivenss.

Yeah, withdrawing from Beirut may have been the biggest mistake of his presidency, but it also was a decision made in a different context. There were no WMD programs threatening bringing attacks to our shores, a more divided, less armed, and somewhat counterbalanced M.E., with Iran not having near the ability to wage a proxy war on the scale that it can now with Hezb and other groups.

[Diddle E. Squat]

"There were no WMD programs threatening bringing attacks to our shores"

should read:

"There were no terrorist WMD programs threatening bringing attacks to our shores"

[Jameison]

"I remember the millions marching in Germany against upgrading NATO defenses and missile deployment, when the European public sentiment appeared more vocal and averse to the US than it does now. Yet Reagan still led."

What's that got to do with Reagan retreating from Beirut after US marines had been bombed again?
Demonstrations?
Heck there have been huge numbers of anti-war demonstrations against Bush over Iraq in every corner of the world, including here in America and especially massive anti-Bush demonstration's Europe.
Hasn't made one iota of difference to President Bush's resolve in either Afghanistan or Iraq.
Anyone can ignore demonstrations, staying the course after thousands of American troops have been bombed to death is what takes real balls, and President Bush has a pair of big brass ones.
Just keep your rubbish coming will ya?

[Jameison]

"Yeah, withdrawing from Beirut may have been the biggest mistake of his presidency, but it also was a decision made in a different context"

It's one of the cases sited by Bin Laden when he calls Americans "soft", and claims we don't have the staying power to stay the course or the stomach to take bloody casualties.
One reason president Bush is not prepared to budge one inch in Iraq or Afghanistan.

[mad_as_he$$]

Withdrawing from Beirut was not the problem. Sending to few to do the job and too many to sacrifice was the problem.