Doing the right thing
On this day in 1983, Pres. Ronald Reagan took full responsibility for the October bombing of the Beirut Embassy in Lebanon that killed 241 U.S. troops. Contrast that with the lies, stonewalling, and passing the buck of the Obama administration in the aftermath of the Benghazi attack.
Of course, neither president was directly responsible for the death of American service members overseas; we must not lose sight that both of these attacks were perpetrated by America’s enemies. However the policies of both presidents and the actions of their subordinates certainly played a role and is worth further investigation (in Obama’s case) and discussion.
Reagan wasn’t perfect. No man is. But by taking responsibility for something that happened under his watch, President Reagan displayed a level class that Americans are unlikely to ever see from the man who currently occupies the White House.
I have fought against the restrictive rules of engagement in Afghanistan under Bush and Obama as part of the counterinsurgency doctrine. To be fair, under the Reagan administration Marines were not allowed to have loaded weapons during their peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, and were only allowed to return fire under certain circumstances. Had the Marines pulling security outside the barracks been locked and loaded, then those 241 Marines, sailors, and soldiers probably wouldn’t have died.
After the attack, Reagan withdrew the peacekeeping force. But why send combat troops to a country that poses no significant threat to the United States in the first place? When a president feels it is necessary to handicap our military’s ability to respond to deadly force in a particular theater, then we probably shouldn’t send men with guns in the first place.
In an age of terrorism, I wholeheartedly support counterterrorism. There are plenty of people who not only feel divinely inspired to kill innocent Americans, but also seek to do so. They must be stopped. But when we go beyond intelligence and special operations – putting “boots on the ground” – there has to be a legitimate reason.
We have sent enough young men and women to die in the Middle East, Southwest Asia, and North Africa. No matter how much blood we spill in that part of the globe, they will continue to hate us and themselves.
They can hate us for free. Stop the foreign aid. Stop propping up dictators and tyrants – the Soviet Union isn’t around any more. Stop sending our young men and women to die. And for the love of all that is good, stop buying their oil. We have enough energy resources at home that no matter happens in that part of the globe, it’s not our problem any more.
ROGER THAT! And I agree 100%,, I have been saying it since they first went into Afghan,,,and I knew a few of the GENs in DC. All I could think about was KNOW your enemy the best yo can, It did not take a military expert to know the Russians fought there for 9 years and there was plenty of their equipment still there. OK go to Google and type in some of the key factions and maybe you will begin to understand tribal (it’s a way of life) They breed to have more warriors and have a complex system where they live, hide, train, etc and it is presented as a vast chain of mountain ranges where the terrain us such that it channels you to take the same route out that you came in by,
I was screaming at the TV when they were in Iraq but Afghan was getting worse so more troops were being sent back. IMO if I were king for a day I would have been moving 30% of the troops from several of our allies who failed to support us towards the key areas of the borders and stopped our ground forces from any missions into their safe haven and some of them would establish check points in the lowlands while the AF, Navy and Marine A/C prepared for a Rolling Thunder Mission..the remaining troops would secure the major towns.
Then I would have PSYOPS smother the mountain ranges with leaflets telling them they has 24-48? hours to report to the check points before the die. Then I would have spent 5-10 billion on sending in A/C to bomb those ranges and those who tried to get to the borders or towns would of been cut off and those who stayed would have been been buried, this would totally disrupt their operations, logistics and safe havens plus hundreds would have died in their attempt to escape.
In the aftermath this would have created an entirely different landscape which would of given the Spec Ops teams more advantage to move in and out and catch them in a totally disoriented and weaken state…that would of allowed follow on Boots on the ground units to clear out the majority of what may have survived…..EXPENSIVE,,, yes but we have spent more twice that amount and have wasted years and many lives due to the terrain advantage…
That was the biggest military blunder in the past 40 years and now the ones who are training them are being killed by those they train and they’re shelter and complex chain of operations still is in full operation…..
RLTW