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The Spectacle Blog
The Elliot Abrams business Jeff uncovers does raise some interesting historical points:
1. Some who bill their foreign policy preferences as “neo-Reaganite” today were fairly critical of Reagan’s actual foreign policy in the 1980s, even as they remained part of the Reagan coalition.
2. The neoconservatives were an important part of that coalition, but Reagan didn’t always do everything they advised.
3. This should remind us that Reagan really deserves a lot of the credit he gets for his handling of the Cold War. He threaded the needle on confrontation vs. accomodation with the Soviets almost perfectly, in contrast with his opponents and even some of his supporters.
View all comments (24) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by W. James Antle, III
http://spectator.org/blog/2012/01/27/reaganite-foreign-policy
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Clip of the Day
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Clint| 1.27.12 @ 3:59PM
Ronald Reagan,
" Perhaps we didn't appreciate fully enough the depth of the hatred and the complexity of the problems that made the Middle East such a jungle. Perhaps the idea of a suicide car bomber committing mass murder to gain instant entry to Paradise was so foreign to our own values and consciousness that it did not create in us the concern for the marines' safety that it should have.
In the weeks immediately after the bombing, I believed the last thing that we should do was turn tail and leave. Yet the irrationality of Middle Eastern politics forced us to rethink our policy there. If there would be some rethinking of policy before our men die, we would be a lot better off. If that policy had changed towards more of a neutral position and neutrality, those 241 marines would be alive today."
The Veteran Versus The Three RINO-CINO Plastic Israel Firster Puppet Chickenhawks.
Vern Crisler | 1.27.12 @ 11:21PM
Clint, do you shill for Ron Paul everywhere on the net?
Clint| 1.28.12 @ 10:42AM
Vern Baby, Do You Knead Mr.Neutered, The Pillsbury DoughBoy's Dough ?
Are You A Rough Puff Chickenhawk Too ?
Hmmmmmm Vern Baby ?
Dai Alanye | 1.28.12 @ 12:36PM
I'm relieved to see the return of "chickenhawk." It's a fine example of political discourse by our favorite booster of Dr Chicken. (Or, as he's now known in the vicinity of Cape Canaveral, Captain Doctor Lunar Shot.)
Clint| 1.28.12 @ 12:47PM
Interesting, How You Israel Firster Smear Bund Scum Repeatedly Mock Veteran American Military Officers.
" Dr. Ron Paul served in the United States Air Force as a flight surgeon for several years (1963-1965). While in the air force, Paul reached the rank of Captain. Directly after his service in the air force, Paul worked again as a flight surgeon for the United States Air National Guard (1965-1968).
" Paul served as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force in the 1960s, spending time on the ground in countries like Ethiopia, Iran, Pakistan, South Korea, and Turkey. He also sits on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs."
The Tea Party Rebellion Is In Florida.
Oldefarte| 1.28.12 @ 3:33PM
No, instead we all 'MOCK' ...........FRAUDS AND PERPETUAL LIARS/NON-TRUTH-TELLERS [never '...Veteran American Military Officers....']!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Clint| 1.28.12 @ 5:22PM
Just As I Said.
"Interesting, How You Israel Firster Smear Bund Scum Repeatedly Mock Veteran American Military Officers."
" Dr. Ron Paul served in the United States Air Force as a flight surgeon for several years (1963-1965). While in the air force, Paul reached the rank of Captain. Directly after his service in the air force, Paul worked again as a flight surgeon for the United States Air National Guard (1965-1968).
" Paul served as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force in the 1960s, spending time on the ground in countries like Ethiopia, Iran, Pakistan, South Korea, and Turkey. He also sits on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs."
Now, RINO-CINO Fart Pants,Tell Us Where Your Chickenhawk Candidate Served ?
Answer: Nowhere.
Oldefarte| 1.28.12 @ 3:29PM
Or is he a TOO SHORT SHORTS Rough Rider within Lake Jackson also perhaps , huh??????
Clint| 1.28.12 @ 5:25PM
Fart Pants Has A Queer Fixation On Dr. Paul's Short Shorts.
Maybe Your Bibi Could Get A Pair And Get Ya All Excited.
Oldefarte| 1.28.12 @ 3:27PM
What is the SOURCE of this quoted material??????????????????????
Clint| 1.28.12 @ 5:28PM
Reality, Fantasyland RINO-CINO Fart Pants.
Do Your Own Homework Ya Lazy Ass Slouch.
Hint: Ron Paul Air Force
Greta| 1.27.12 @ 6:59PM
This trash seals it for me. I will not support Romney now or if nominated. I have voted Republican for over 50 years and never missed a vote. If the elite RINO'S demand Romney with this type of crap, the have sent a strong message that conseravites are not wanted in the party. Tea Party, here I come with my time, money, and vote.
Vern Crisler | 1.27.12 @ 11:23PM
Yes, we dutifully supported McCain last time around and look what it got us. Should we do the same this year with Romney? Or should we do what Ann Coulter did last time and support a Democrat candidate?
W| 1.27.12 @ 11:38PM
Coulter did not support Obama. Do you have any evidence she did? You may be thinking of Peggy Noonan, Christopher Buckley, and other so called conservative writers. Coulter supported Romney in the primaries in 08 but said she voted for McCain in the election.
Vern Crisler | 1.28.12 @ 1:33PM
She supported Hillary against McCain.
W| 1.29.12 @ 8:25AM
She supported Hillary against Obama for the Dem primaries. She supported Romney in the Rep primaries. She could not have supported Hillary against McCain since they never ran against each other. Rush supported Hillary in the Dem primaries to keep the primaries going, that is not to say then that Rush supported Hillary against McCain.
JimH| 1.28.12 @ 8:08AM
Some comments from Jerry Pournelle regarding Abrams, neocons and paleocons. It is worth reading, because he is an extremely intelligent man and he was present back when some of this was going on.
http://jerrypournelle.com/chaosmanor/?p=5147
Dai Alanye | 1.28.12 @ 12:53PM
This pretty well clinches it for me. Pournelle is very sharp and very conservative. This demonstration of Abram's inaccuracy, and with all the losers supporting him -- Dole, McCain, GHW Bush, Quayle -- plus blowhards such as Christie and Coulter -- proves we must stop Romney, even at the risk of accepting a loose cannon like Newt.
Fortunately, there is still Santorum to hope for.
cicero| 1.28.12 @ 10:33AM
Reagan's thoughtful reacction to the car bombing of the Marines' barracks only shows that he was not tied to ideology. He made a rational decision based on historical perspectives. I only wish that our subsequent leaders had done the same. We have no business being in the Middle East, or anywhere where the task is bringing Jeffersonian democracy to the Muslim world. That is an impossible task. They either do it on their own, or it doesn't get done.
I am not suggesting that we had no business going into Afghanistan or Iraq. We just had no business staying in. The proper course, in my humble estimation, would have been to go in, throw the rulers out, killing as many of them as possible as an object lesson, and going home. All we have been doing over the past 10 years is fighting the battles for the next group of thugs who want to be king. History has shown that the Muslim world changes rulers by assasination and warfare. Few die peacefully in bed. The only difference this time around is that they have tricked the West into doing their regime changes for them.
As far as Middle East oil is concerned, let the Europeans deal with it. Now that we know that we are sitting on 300 years of our own carbon based fuel deposits, and we know how to utilize them in a clean and safe manner, we have no reason to buy the stuff from them. While we can generate our own fuels, they cannot grow their own food, nor eat their oil. The point of leverage changes dramatically, and to our advantage.
Dai Alanye | 1.28.12 @ 12:59PM
Reagan wanted to stay in Lebanon -- the correct decision in my view -- but allowed himself to be persuaded by his weak-kneed advisers. The pullout simply encouraged more Muslim suicide attacks. We need to remember that those types respond better to sticks than carrots.
C Bowen | 1.28.12 @ 4:25PM
Did Curveball write your history books?
Clint| 1.28.12 @ 5:31PM
Ronald Reagan,
" Perhaps we didn't appreciate fully enough the depth of the hatred and the complexity of the problems that made the Middle East such a jungle. Perhaps the idea of a suicide car bomber committing mass murder to gain instant entry to Paradise was so foreign to our own values and consciousness that it did not create in us the concern for the marines' safety that it should have.
In the weeks immediately after the bombing, I believed the last thing that we should do was turn tail and leave. Yet the irrationality of Middle Eastern politics forced us to rethink our policy there. If there would be some rethinking of policy before our men die, we would be a lot better off. If that policy had changed towards more of a neutral position and neutrality, those 241 marines would be alive today."
The Tea Party Rebellion Is In Florida.
Oldefarte| 1.29.12 @ 11:36AM
No possibly a Clit fixiation based on his stupidly C&P ignorance from Paulie's dumbarsism within his newsletters instead!!!!! [Clint| 1.28.12 @ 5:25PM..Fart Pants Has A Queer Fixation On Dr. Paul's Short Shorts.Maybe Your Bibi Could Get A Pair And Get Ya All Excited] . Oh and do my homework....right from Pualie Boy's newsletters 101 no doubt huh?????
Oldefarte| 1.29.12 @ 11:46AM
Want FIXATION Clit? Try this: '....Regarding security at home, Paul denounced the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) as a “bureaucratic monster.” His criticism came because TSA agents recently prevented his son, Kentucky Sen. Ran Paul, from boarding a flight because he refused to submit to a pat-down.
“The assumption that the government has to do this is the wrong assumption,” the congressman insisted. “I voted against the Department of Homeland Security and the TSA. It’s a bureaucratic monster. It totally voids the concept of the Fourth Amendment.”He decried the “searches and prodding and poking” that take place without permission at airports and said Americans are trapped in a system that doesn’t allow people to travel unless they agree to be subjected to such invasive practices.“When you look at some of these pictures of . . . groin areas and breast areas and all this, and old women having to take their clothes off — if we as a people are so complacent that we can look at this and say, ‘Oh, that’s ok, they’re making us safe’ — it doesn’t make us safe,” he said....'