—Reagan spoke words of support for the Poles, was that wrong too?—
Different situation. We we facing a fresh, purposeful Soviet Union, a nation with nearly 200 Army divisions (versus maybe 20 divisions for the US if you count the 3 USMC divisions), 55,000 main battle tanks versus maybe 12,000 for the US, a navy and nuclear delivery force larger than those of the USA and its allies put together. An existentially greater threat than a bunch of modernity-hating goathumpers.
Today we face a purposeful enemy with a definite doctrine. The fact that they don’t have 200 divisions and 50,000 MBTs actually works in their favor in a new generation of warfare. We underestimate their capabilities and intentions at our peril.
Iran doesn’t need to USE an atomic bomb to do much harm. A Bomb gives them an umbrella under which to ramp up the harm that they are already doing in the world through proxies. (For instance, the Iranians are ALL over Latin America.
In the event that they were to use such a weapon, they are likely to do so through a covert proxy to give them plausible deniability.
We need to get away from the Cold War mentality and recognize the threats today and in the future.