are you certain?

Submitted by john w. mcginley (United States), Jun 16, 2004 at 13:17

I wish what you said were true. I know it is not fashionable in right-of-center circles, but I am among those who believe that during the election campaign of 1980, Reagan, through a former and also through a to be CIA director (i.e, the elder Bush and wm. Casey) negotiated a release of the hostages with the Iranians. The bravado of inauguration day was just that: bravado. The Reagan administation played footsie with Iran all throughout the eighties, partly motivated by the situation in Iraq. Money for hostages (and for individual hostages later on taken in Labanon). Iran-contra, with the israeilis as facilitators. There was one exception to this pattern. After the Hezbollah (made possible by Iran) killed 241 Marines in Beirut, the Reagan Adminstration really taught thosed Iranians a lesson: three days later we invaded Grenada. Osama ben Laden has publically admitted that his first inspiration for seeing the USA as a paper tiger was the non-response of America to this attack on American soldiers and honor.

Despite all of this, I still admire Reagan. He did the job that he was born to do: Stop the global aspiriations of the Soviet Empire dead in its tracks. But he set terrible precedents relative to Iran. Precedents which still seem to be operative with the younger Bush.

Also, Israel's role of facilitator in all of this was not an honorable chapter in its history. And now, two decades after these affairs, Iran turns out to be the greatest threat to Israel. JWM

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