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Worst US President of the last 50 years (1 Viewer)

?

  • Dwight Eisenhower

    Votes: 1 0.4%
  • John F. Kennedy

    Votes: 1 0.4%
  • Lyndon Johnson

    Votes: 10 4.3%
  • Richard Nixon

    Votes: 16 6.9%
  • Gerald Ford

    Votes: 4 1.7%
  • Jimmy Carter

    Votes: 76 32.9%
  • Ronald Reagan

    Votes: 9 3.9%
  • George H.W. Bush

    Votes: 1 0.4%
  • Bill Clinton

    Votes: 5 2.2%
  • George W. Bush

    Votes: 108 46.8%

  • Total voters
    231
What does that have to do with the tax cuts and then increases the following year? The tax increases were not as severe as the tax cuts, and weren't across the board. For example, he eliminated credit card interest as a tax deduction. Certainly motivated me not to get into a deficit pending mode with that one. And I htink that was probably good for the economy in the long run.As to interest rates, if Volker gets credit during the Reaan years, he gets blame during the Carter years as well. Reagan was the driving force, not Volker
My point regarding the Reagan tax cuts is that it's not as sweeping and clearly not as successful as you seem to think. I mean, after all, he added increased taxes again and again afterwards. As for Volcker, he can take the blame for Carter's years if he's the head of the Fed. That began in 1979.
So he was head of the Fed 50% of the time Carter was President. He shares some of the blame then.The tax reform bill certainly simplied my tax form and closes several loopholes that major corporations enjoyed. I would think someone like you would have liked seeing corporate welfare reduced.As to success, the economic data during the Reagan years and beyond speak for themselves. The tax cuts were very successful.
 
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To all the "Reagan was the greatest thing since sliced bread" people out there:

1. He was personable and a great communicator. (being an actor does that)

2. Here's a story you may not know. It definitely impacted my view of the guy:

Back when the Marine barracks was bombed in Lebanon, we had intelligence that gave us the exact location of Hammas leadership and 'troops'. It was a cherry of a target (terrorists have since learned not to do this); The building was removed from civilians and innocents, we knew exactly where it was and who was in there.

The military formed a plan to bomb the GD thing into the stone age. Everyone except Reagan's good buddy Cap Wienberger agreed with the plan. Then, minutes before the planes were to leave the carrier (and late at night in Washington), Reagan's buddy Cap decided - on his own - to cancel the mission. Reagan snoozed peacefully.

When news of this broke in the White House and Pentagon, people went nuts. They were sure Cap would at least get fired (if not prosecuted for treason). But good, kindly old half-wit Reagan didn't want to annoy his good buddy Cap. - No discipline whatsoever. No new strike either. In fact, we waited a few months and slunk out of there.

Why does that matter today? Because, if any of you have listened, OBL (in his 9/11 manifesto), Mullah Omar and other terrorists continue to this day to refer to America's failure to avenge the deaths of 241 Marines and our subsequent pull-out as 'proof' to fellow terrorists that America simply does not have the will to take any sort of a hit.

...and my friends, when your failure to act simply because your buddy didn't want to - and that failure to act has deadly repurcussions over 20 into the future - Shows a serious lack of thought or leadership.

Learned something new for the day, huh?

 
Anybody in this poll who says Reagan is a tool. Period.If not the greatest President of the 20th Century, right behind only FDR.Carter was an unmitigated disaster.Reagan, not only put pressures on the Soviet Union which caused it to economically collapse, he was the ONLY one who actually thought this could happen.If it was up to the liberals in this country, the SU would still be around and we'd still be having arms limitations talks and hearing about how we should try to work with them, basically let them HAVE Eastern Europe. After all, what's a few hundred million people in living under a brutal dictatorship.Reagan and Reagan alone saw the Soviet Union and a corrupt and evil enterprise that could be defeated if America only wanted to. The SDI was the straw that finally broke the camels back. Gorbachev KNEW he couldn't afford to build it and that Reagan could. Only then did Gorbachev start talking about Glasnost, a nice name which should have been called, instead, "Yes Mr. Reagan, I am your #####." It was brilliant strategy. Also, how about the Pershing missles in Western Europe. THAT put lots of pressure on the Soviets. They no longer could count on the Red Army as being a significant deterent for us. If the Red Army as much as put their big toe into Western Europe, Moscow would be destroyed in 15 minutes.
The Soviet Union was rotting from with in. Reagan initiated a race to bankruptcy and the Russians won. By not by as much as people like to think. And Reagan's VP paid the political price for it when the credit card finally had to be paid. The USSR was dying and would not be with us today, regardless.
I disagree. The USSR would still be around if not for Reagan. Yes there were many other factors as well, but Reagan was one of the primary forces behind the demise of the Soviet Union. Communist China is still alive and kicking and very much an emerging superpower. The USSR would be as well without the aggressive polices from the Reagan administration. They ran out of money and resources as a result of the great arms race, Cold War economics, and poor foreign policy decisions.
You can't really compare Chine and the USSR. Two totally different animals. And no the USSR wouldn't be here either way. It was collapsing under the weight of it's own failures including it's Vietnam fling in Afghanistan.
I'm not sure you can say that the USSR wouldn't be around either way. Hard to predict what Gorbachev would have done if his adversary was Carter. while the fling in Afghanistan was probably as damagng to the Russian psyche as Vietnam was to ours, it's hard to blame the collapse of an empire on a single military defeat. The reason they were collapsing economically did have something to do with an arms race though.
That military defeat drained their treasury which hurried the collapse was my point. And I think Gorby just saw the writing on the wall. If whoever was president would have sat down with him the same things would have happened more or less I believe.
 
Anybody in this poll who says Reagan is a tool. Period.If not the greatest President of the 20th Century, right behind only FDR.Carter was an unmitigated disaster.Reagan, not only put pressures on the Soviet Union which caused it to economically collapse, he was the ONLY one who actually thought this could happen.If it was up to the liberals in this country, the SU would still be around and we'd still be having arms limitations talks and hearing about how we should try to work with them, basically let them HAVE Eastern Europe. After all, what's a few hundred million people in living under a brutal dictatorship.Reagan and Reagan alone saw the Soviet Union and a corrupt and evil enterprise that could be defeated if America only wanted to. The SDI was the straw that finally broke the camels back. Gorbachev KNEW he couldn't afford to build it and that Reagan could. Only then did Gorbachev start talking about Glasnost, a nice name which should have been called, instead, "Yes Mr. Reagan, I am your #####." It was brilliant strategy. Also, how about the Pershing missles in Western Europe. THAT put lots of pressure on the Soviets. They no longer could count on the Red Army as being a significant deterent for us. If the Red Army as much as put their big toe into Western Europe, Moscow would be destroyed in 15 minutes.
and yet he was too much of a weakling to hit Hammas when they killed more Marines in one day since Iwo Jima. In fact, he had us sneak out of Beirut in the dead of night. See my post above. If a Democrat did that, he's be a "weak-willed Liberal". Talked tough - was a great talker - just suucked at the actual ACTION. The dude ####ed up and terrorists are using that failure to act even to this day. And no, the with or without the "Liberals", the Soviet Union was a trainwreck. Funny how Americans think that we control every event that occurs in the world. :thumbdown:
 
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He wanted radical arms reductions because he knew he could't compete with the US in another arms race.
He made the decision to reform. Others around him were blind to the facts and would have gladly continued the Cold War. The 1991 coup, that ultimately failed, shows that. He wanted to end the Cold War. Reagan wanted to win the Cold War. Almost everything under Gorbachev smacks of political reform. Elections, market reforms, and the like have little to do with the arms race but they have everything to do with ending the Cold War.
 
To all the "Reagan was the greatest thing since sliced bread" people out there: 1. He was personable and a great communicator. (being an actor does that)2. Here's a story you may not know. It definitely impacted my view of the guy: Back when the Marine barracks was bombed in Lebanon, we had intelligence that gave us the exact location of Hammas leadership and 'troops'. It was a cherry of a target (terrorists have since learned not to do this); The building was removed from civilians and innocents, we knew exactly where it was and who was in there. The military formed a plan to bomb the GD thing into the stone age. Everyone except Reagan's good buddy Cap Wienberger agreed with the plan. Then, minutes before the planes were to leave the carrier (and late at night in Washington), Reagan's buddy Cap decided - on his own - to cancel the mission. Reagan snoozed peacefully. When news of this broke in the White House and Pentagon, people went nuts. They were sure Cap would at least get fired (if not prosecuted for treason). But good, kindly old half-wit Reagan didn't want to annoy his good buddy Cap. - No discipline whatsoever. No new strike either. In fact, we waited a few months and slunk out of there. Why does that matter today? Because, if any of you have listened, OBL (in his 9/11 manifesto), Mullah Omar and other terrorists continue to this day to refer to America's failure to avenge the deaths of 241 Marines and our subsequent pull-out as 'proof' to fellow terrorists that America simply does not have the will to take any sort of a hit. ...and my friends, when your failure to act simply because your buddy didn't want to - and that failure to act has deadly repurcussions over 20 into the future - Shows a serious lack of thought or leadership. Learned something new for the day, huh?
I assume you are referring to plans to target the Sheik Abdullah barracks in Baalbek, Lebanon, which housed Iranian Revolutionary Guards believed to be training Hezbollah fighters? Baalbek is hardly isolated. It is the major Shia center in Lebanon. In a period where the Soviet Union was the biggest threat to our existence, a motley crew of Arab terrorists were hardly a blip on the radar. I can excuse the lack of that crystal ball in 1983, especially as Cap was instrumental in modernizing the armed forces against a much more dngerous (at the time) foe. Not sure I can excuse the same failure to act following an attack in 2000 when a different President, knowing much more about the threat of terrorism to the US than we did in 1983, decided not to respond.
 
wow another partisan political bickerfest. Whoda thunk it?

Carter was the most inept, by far. He continually lowers the bar as a former prez even today.

most people on this board don't know anything about LBJ, he was awful as well...awful. So bad, his own party turned on him mid presidency.

 
He wanted radical arms reductions because he knew he could't compete with the US in another arms race.
He made the decision to reform. Others around him were blind to the facts and would have gladly continued the Cold War. The 1991 coup, that ultimately failed, shows that. He wanted to end the Cold War. Reagan wanted to win the Cold War. Almost everything under Gorbachev smacks of political reform. Elections, market reforms, and the like have little to do with the arms race but they have everything to do with ending the Cold War.
Reagan pushed for victory. Gorbachev saw the handwriting on the fall and sensibly surrendered in a way that at least preserved some form of Russian dignity. Might not have if not pushed.
 
Anybody in this poll who says Reagan is a tool. Period.If not the greatest President of the 20th Century, right behind only FDR.Carter was an unmitigated disaster.Reagan, not only put pressures on the Soviet Union which caused it to economically collapse, he was the ONLY one who actually thought this could happen.If it was up to the liberals in this country, the SU would still be around and we'd still be having arms limitations talks and hearing about how we should try to work with them, basically let them HAVE Eastern Europe. After all, what's a few hundred million people in living under a brutal dictatorship.Reagan and Reagan alone saw the Soviet Union and a corrupt and evil enterprise that could be defeated if America only wanted to. The SDI was the straw that finally broke the camels back. Gorbachev KNEW he couldn't afford to build it and that Reagan could. Only then did Gorbachev start talking about Glasnost, a nice name which should have been called, instead, "Yes Mr. Reagan, I am your #####." It was brilliant strategy. Also, how about the Pershing missles in Western Europe. THAT put lots of pressure on the Soviets. They no longer could count on the Red Army as being a significant deterent for us. If the Red Army as much as put their big toe into Western Europe, Moscow would be destroyed in 15 minutes.
The Soviet Union was rotting from with in. Reagan initiated a race to bankruptcy and the Russians won. By not by as much as people like to think. And Reagan's VP paid the political price for it when the credit card finally had to be paid. The USSR was dying and would not be with us today, regardless.
I disagree. The USSR would still be around if not for Reagan. Yes there were many other factors as well, but Reagan was one of the primary forces behind the demise of the Soviet Union. Communist China is still alive and kicking and very much an emerging superpower. The USSR would be as well without the aggressive polices from the Reagan administration. They ran out of money and resources as a result of the great arms race, Cold War economics, and poor foreign policy decisions.
You can't really compare Chine and the USSR. Two totally different animals. And no the USSR wouldn't be here either way. It was collapsing under the weight of it's own failures including it's Vietnam fling in Afghanistan.
I'm not sure you can say that the USSR wouldn't be around either way. Hard to predict what Gorbachev would have done if his adversary was Carter. while the fling in Afghanistan was probably as damagng to the Russian psyche as Vietnam was to ours, it's hard to blame the collapse of an empire on a single military defeat. The reason they were collapsing economically did have something to do with an arms race though.
That military defeat drained their treasury which hurried the collapse was my point. And I think Gorby just saw the writing on the wall. If whoever was president would have sat down with him the same things would have happened more or less I believe.
Your first two points are valid. I think it took a US president that was willing to take advantage of Russia's temporary situation to push them over the cliff though. Reagan was willing. He took a lot of flak for it, as at the time, nobody believed how close we were to winning the cold war. The military buildup that Reagan started was one that the Soviets couldn't match, Gorbachev knew it, and capitulated as gracefully as he could.
 
Can someone smarter and older than me elaborate on why Carter is considered such a miserable failure? Please include specifics if you don't mind.I've heard that he wasn't the "tough" guy on some issues, but was he a total failure?I've heard that Carter did most of the negotiating for the hostage release, only to have Reagan steal his thunder after the election - is this not the case?
No. Carter tried a rescue and blew it.
Now see, that's bullshiit right there. I'M old enough to remember all these things. I've read analyses after the fact. Tell me one thing that Carter did that caused - or even contributed to - the failure of the rescue attempt. Two choppers went down due to mechanical failure and a third one clipped another - Carter wasn't at the helm nor under the hood.it sounds like you have a real personal distaste for Carter - and I'm not doing to dissuade you - But don't pull crap like "Carter blew the rescue". It wasn't his fault - and pretty ballsy to green-light it in the first place.
I'm probably at least as old as you. Carter approved a mission that was under-manned, required a level of cooperation between the services that didn't exist at the time, and when it failed, we left our guys behind for the Iranians to display on TV. Not to mention that we probably lost most of our internal intelligence gathering cpability because of that failed mission. All those people that turned out to help a rescue mission that never showed didn't stand a chance after that. Carter was CIC. The rsponsibility for the failed mission is his.Unless you want to argue that the failures in Iraq aren't Bush's fault.....
#1) Link to anything saying this mission was under-manned. #2) Link to anything saying the mission was under-manned PRIOR to the failure. Prove that this went to Carter and he overrode or disregarded it. #3) Link to anything proving that Carter told the ops group to reduce staff - or made ANY recommendations as to staffing size whatsoever. - Until then, you're just making things up. The birds went down largely due to a wicked sand storm and one pilot clipping another bird. - Again, you haven't brought anything to the table to prove that "Carter blew it". Seriously man, how can you compare the loss of life on that mission to the #### up that is Iraq? I understand you don't like the guy, but no reasonable person is going to say that the Iraq debacle has less impact upon this country and the world than a failed rescue attempt that killed 8 guys. On the bright side, You're right about CIC. - And he did take personal responsibility - which was the right thing to do. If we're going to play that game, then GWB is personally responsble for almost 30,000 dead or wounded Americans and a completely failed state that now harbors & arms terrorists.
 
wow another partisan political bickerfest. Whoda thunk it?Carter was the most inept, by far. He continually lowers the bar as a former prez even today.most people on this board don't know anything about LBJ, he was awful as well...awful. So bad, his own party turned on him mid presidency.
But LBJ's problem was Vietnam, which became a political entity onto itself. I don't think the current Iraq conflict is even close.I answered Carter and quite frankly don't see anyone in the last 50 years as close. Further, in the history of the office, I'd put him in the bottom 5, and that small group includes a guy that died a month in, a guy that was assassinated 8 months in, a two others that probably 90% of the country think were contestants on American Idol year 3.
 
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Can someone smarter and older than me elaborate on why Carter is considered such a miserable failure? Please include specifics if you don't mind.I've heard that he wasn't the "tough" guy on some issues, but was he a total failure?I've heard that Carter did most of the negotiating for the hostage release, only to have Reagan steal his thunder after the election - is this not the case?
No. Carter tried a rescue and blew it.
Now see, that's bullshiit right there. I'M old enough to remember all these things. I've read analyses after the fact. Tell me one thing that Carter did that caused - or even contributed to - the failure of the rescue attempt. Two choppers went down due to mechanical failure and a third one clipped another - Carter wasn't at the helm nor under the hood.it sounds like you have a real personal distaste for Carter - and I'm not doing to dissuade you - But don't pull crap like "Carter blew the rescue". It wasn't his fault - and pretty ballsy to green-light it in the first place.
I'm probably at least as old as you. Carter approved a mission that was under-manned, required a level of cooperation between the services that didn't exist at the time, and when it failed, we left our guys behind for the Iranians to display on TV. Not to mention that we probably lost most of our internal intelligence gathering cpability because of that failed mission. All those people that turned out to help a rescue mission that never showed didn't stand a chance after that. Carter was CIC. The rsponsibility for the failed mission is his.Unless you want to argue that the failures in Iraq aren't Bush's fault.....
#1) Link to anything saying this mission was under-manned. #2) Link to anything saying the mission was under-manned PRIOR to the failure. Prove that this went to Carter and he overrode or disregarded it. #3) Link to anything proving that Carter told the ops group to reduce staff - or made ANY recommendations as to staffing size whatsoever. - Until then, you're just making things up. The birds went down largely due to a wicked sand storm and one pilot clipping another bird. - Again, you haven't brought anything to the table to prove that "Carter blew it". Seriously man, how can you compare the loss of life on that mission to the #### up that is Iraq? I understand you don't like the guy, but no reasonable person is going to say that the Iraq debacle has less impact upon this country and the world than a failed rescue attempt that killed 8 guys. On the bright side, You're right about CIC. - And he did take personal responsibility - which was the right thing to do. If we're going to play that game, then GWB is personally responsble for almost 30,000 dead or wounded Americans and a completely failed state that now harbors & arms terrorists.
i dont' think this is accurate. I read a book by the special forces commanding General under Carter that explained the entire mission and why it failed, I can't recall but I'll dig it up tonight and post the relevant passages here. later
 
To all the "Reagan was the greatest thing since sliced bread" people out there: 1. He was personable and a great communicator. (being an actor does that)2. Here's a story you may not know. It definitely impacted my view of the guy: Back when the Marine barracks was bombed in Lebanon, we had intelligence that gave us the exact location of Hammas leadership and 'troops'. It was a cherry of a target (terrorists have since learned not to do this); The building was removed from civilians and innocents, we knew exactly where it was and who was in there. The military formed a plan to bomb the GD thing into the stone age. Everyone except Reagan's good buddy Cap Wienberger agreed with the plan. Then, minutes before the planes were to leave the carrier (and late at night in Washington), Reagan's buddy Cap decided - on his own - to cancel the mission. Reagan snoozed peacefully. When news of this broke in the White House and Pentagon, people went nuts. They were sure Cap would at least get fired (if not prosecuted for treason). But good, kindly old half-wit Reagan didn't want to annoy his good buddy Cap. - No discipline whatsoever. No new strike either. In fact, we waited a few months and slunk out of there. Why does that matter today? Because, if any of you have listened, OBL (in his 9/11 manifesto), Mullah Omar and other terrorists continue to this day to refer to America's failure to avenge the deaths of 241 Marines and our subsequent pull-out as 'proof' to fellow terrorists that America simply does not have the will to take any sort of a hit. ...and my friends, when your failure to act simply because your buddy didn't want to - and that failure to act has deadly repurcussions over 20 into the future - Shows a serious lack of thought or leadership. Learned something new for the day, huh?
And by the anti-Bush lib mantra of today it wouldn't have mattered if we had bombed them. The bombing would have created more terrorists to take their place.
 
In a period where the Soviet Union was the biggest threat to our existence, a motley crew of Arab terrorists were hardly a blip on the radar. I can excuse the lack of that crystal ball in 1983, especially as Cap was instrumental in modernizing the armed forces against a much more dngerous (at the time) foe. Not sure I can excuse the same failure to act following an attack in 2000 when a different President, knowing much more about the threat of terrorism to the US than we did in 1983, decided not to respond.
I'm sorry, did just say that the murder of more Marines in one day since Iwo Jima was "hardly a blip on the radar"? Are you ####ing kidding me? Do you KNOW any Marines? Two question:

1) How many people died in the attack in 2000. How many died in Beirut?

2) How many Marines were bombed by the Soviets during the Reagan era?

So basically, the crux of your excusing these guys is "hey, we're not going to go after anybody unless we know that they're going to be a problem in 30 years??" WTF? And do you seriously think we didn't know terrorism was a dangerous thing back then - 'cause you googling some of Reagan's speeches is going to make you look pretty ignorant in that regard.

Man, you are just NOT bringing much of any validity to the table. It's easy enough to admit:

1) Look, Carter didn't cause the resue attempt to fail.

2) Yes, we SHOULD avenge the death of Americans - REGARDKLESS of who kills them.

I certainly agree we should have avenged the Cole. - See? not so hard, I can also tell you terrorist were a LOT better at hiding their tracks and NOT presenting targets like the one Reagan didn't attack in 2000 than they were back in the Reagan's day.

 
Can someone smarter and older than me elaborate on why Carter is considered such a miserable failure? Please include specifics if you don't mind.I've heard that he wasn't the "tough" guy on some issues, but was he a total failure?I've heard that Carter did most of the negotiating for the hostage release, only to have Reagan steal his thunder after the election - is this not the case?
No. Carter tried a rescue and blew it.
Now see, that's bullshiit right there. I'M old enough to remember all these things. I've read analyses after the fact. Tell me one thing that Carter did that caused - or even contributed to - the failure of the rescue attempt. Two choppers went down due to mechanical failure and a third one clipped another - Carter wasn't at the helm nor under the hood.it sounds like you have a real personal distaste for Carter - and I'm not doing to dissuade you - But don't pull crap like "Carter blew the rescue". It wasn't his fault - and pretty ballsy to green-light it in the first place.
I'm probably at least as old as you. Carter approved a mission that was under-manned, required a level of cooperation between the services that didn't exist at the time, and when it failed, we left our guys behind for the Iranians to display on TV. Not to mention that we probably lost most of our internal intelligence gathering cpability because of that failed mission. All those people that turned out to help a rescue mission that never showed didn't stand a chance after that. Carter was CIC. The rsponsibility for the failed mission is his.Unless you want to argue that the failures in Iraq aren't Bush's fault.....
#1) Link to anything saying this mission was under-manned. #2) Link to anything saying the mission was under-manned PRIOR to the failure. Prove that this went to Carter and he overrode or disregarded it. #3) Link to anything proving that Carter told the ops group to reduce staff - or made ANY recommendations as to staffing size whatsoever. - Until then, you're just making things up. The birds went down largely due to a wicked sand storm and one pilot clipping another bird. - Again, you haven't brought anything to the table to prove that "Carter blew it". Seriously man, how can you compare the loss of life on that mission to the #### up that is Iraq? I understand you don't like the guy, but no reasonable person is going to say that the Iraq debacle has less impact upon this country and the world than a failed rescue attempt that killed 8 guys. On the bright side, You're right about CIC. - And he did take personal responsibility - which was the right thing to do. If we're going to play that game, then GWB is personally responsble for almost 30,000 dead or wounded Americans and a completely failed state that now harbors & arms terrorists.
You know damned well there was no internet then so finding a link is damned hard. But do you really think that eight helicopters even loaded with Marines had a prayer in hell of rescuing 52 hostages held in the capital of a hostile country? Do you really think putting together a mission like that with no contingency planning is an act of military genius? Do you really think that leaving behind documents identifying our operatives in Iraq was an act of competence? Do you think leaving behind six intact helicopters was good planning? And the mission was aborted before the third(it was actually the fourth) helicoipter crashed. Carter approved the plan. It's his failure.You can start by reading Guests of the Ayatollah, if you want to learn more in depth about the crisis than you can get from Wilkepedia.
 
In a period where the Soviet Union was the biggest threat to our existence, a motley crew of Arab terrorists were hardly a blip on the radar. I can excuse the lack of that crystal ball in 1983, especially as Cap was instrumental in modernizing the armed forces against a much more dngerous (at the time) foe. Not sure I can excuse the same failure to act following an attack in 2000 when a different President, knowing much more about the threat of terrorism to the US than we did in 1983, decided not to respond.
I'm sorry, did just say that the murder of more Marines in one day since Iwo Jima was "hardly a blip on the radar"? Are you ####ing kidding me? Do you KNOW any Marines? Two question:

1) How many people died in the attack in 2000. How many died in Beirut?

2) How many Marines were bombed by the Soviets during the Reagan era?

So basically, the crux of your excusing these guys is "hey, we're not going to go after anybody unless we know that they're going to be a problem in 30 years??" WTF? And do you seriously think we didn't know terrorism was a dangerous thing back then - 'cause you googling some of Reagan's speeches is going to make you look pretty ignorant in that regard.

Man, you are just NOT bringing much of any validity to the table. It's easy enough to admit:

1) Look, Carter didn't cause the resue attempt to fail.

2) Yes, we SHOULD avenge the death of Americans - REGARDKLESS of who kills them.

I certainly agree we should have avenged the Cole. - See? not so hard, I can also tell you terrorist were a LOT better at hiding their tracks and NOT presenting targets like the one Reagan didn't attack in 2000 than they were back in the Reagan's day.
1. Who had the capability to do more damage to the US at the time? The USSR.2. How many Servicemen died in proxy wars with Soviet client states?

3. Carter approved Operation Eagle Claw. It was under-manned. Eight helicopters to attack an embassy in the middle of hostile territory, and rescue 52 hostages? All RH53s with no attack helicopter support? It was a poorly planned mission that Carter approved. It failed. It was doomed to failure. That makes him responsible.

4. Terrorism as a whole was a blp on the radar compared to MAD. However, the barracks in Lebanon that were considered for retaliation were filled with Iranian trainers, not Hezbollah leaders. Perhaps if they were filled with Hezbollah leaders an attack would have made a little more sense. Nobody could have foreseen the rise of AQ in the 80s. Criticizing with 20/20 hindsight, you are.

 
You know damned well there was no internet then so finding a link is damned hard.

Dude, you're cracking me up. You're telling me you can't find Reagan's speeches on the 'net? You DO know they posted stuff that said and done BEFORE the internet, don't you? :D

But do you really think that eight helicopters even loaded with Marines had a prayer in hell of rescuing 52 hostages held in the capital of a hostile country?

Do you think Carter specified the criterion for the mission?

Do you really think putting together a mission like that with no contingency planning is an act of military genius?

Do you think Carter told required this happen? See, he actually HAD "military geniuses" that designed this plan. - As is their job.

Do you really think that leaving behind documents identifying our operatives in Iraq was an act of competence? Do you think leaving behind six intact helicopters was good planning? And the mission was aborted before the third(it was actually the fourth) helicoipter crashed.

Do you think Carter specified that when he drafted the rescue attempt all by himself? Heck, I'm surprised he wasn't flying the damn birds too! I guess you're giving him a break for not alleging that he made the chopper pilot clip the other bird - thanks for that. What a guy! He completely bypassed the entire Pentagon and drafted the whole plan himself! :D

Carter approved the plan. It's his failure.

And, even though he wasn't responsible for a single element that caused the failure, like a man, he nutted up and took responsibility. Again, if you're play it that way, Bush is directly and personably responsbile for the deaths of almost 3,000 more soldiers than Carter - which is worse??

You act like this is the only President who approved failed covert missions. I have news for ya buddy, he ain't. And a whole bunch died under Reagan's (& virtually every other President's) command too. 'Course, we don't hear a lot about those... (hence the "covert") If you're gonna cherry-pick one, you gotta include them all.
 
Can someone smarter and older than me elaborate on why Carter is considered such a miserable failure? Please include specifics if you don't mind.I've heard that he wasn't the "tough" guy on some issues, but was he a total failure?I've heard that Carter did most of the negotiating for the hostage release, only to have Reagan steal his thunder after the election - is this not the case?
No. Carter tried a rescue and blew it.
Now see, that's bullshiit right there. I'M old enough to remember all these things. I've read analyses after the fact. Tell me one thing that Carter did that caused - or even contributed to - the failure of the rescue attempt. Two choppers went down due to mechanical failure and a third one clipped another - Carter wasn't at the helm nor under the hood.it sounds like you have a real personal distaste for Carter - and I'm not doing to dissuade you - But don't pull crap like "Carter blew the rescue". It wasn't his fault - and pretty ballsy to green-light it in the first place.
I'm probably at least as old as you. Carter approved a mission that was under-manned, required a level of cooperation between the services that didn't exist at the time, and when it failed, we left our guys behind for the Iranians to display on TV. Not to mention that we probably lost most of our internal intelligence gathering cpability because of that failed mission. All those people that turned out to help a rescue mission that never showed didn't stand a chance after that. Carter was CIC. The rsponsibility for the failed mission is his.Unless you want to argue that the failures in Iraq aren't Bush's fault.....
#1) Link to anything saying this mission was under-manned. #2) Link to anything saying the mission was under-manned PRIOR to the failure. Prove that this went to Carter and he overrode or disregarded it. #3) Link to anything proving that Carter told the ops group to reduce staff - or made ANY recommendations as to staffing size whatsoever. - Until then, you're just making things up. The birds went down largely due to a wicked sand storm and one pilot clipping another bird. - Again, you haven't brought anything to the table to prove that "Carter blew it". Seriously man, how can you compare the loss of life on that mission to the #### up that is Iraq? I understand you don't like the guy, but no reasonable person is going to say that the Iraq debacle has less impact upon this country and the world than a failed rescue attempt that killed 8 guys. On the bright side, You're right about CIC. - And he did take personal responsibility - which was the right thing to do. If we're going to play that game, then GWB is personally responsble for almost 30,000 dead or wounded Americans and a completely failed state that now harbors & arms terrorists.
i dont' think this is accurate. I read a book by the special forces commanding General under Carter that explained the entire mission and why it failed, I can't recall but I'll dig it up tonight and post the relevant passages here. later
He is wrong about the helicopters. Two failed in a sandstorm, a third sustained damage landing at an airstrip near Tabas and a fourth clipped a C-130 and crashed - but afterthe mission was already scrubbed. We left the remaining five RH-53s behind and unforgivable, we left behind our dead.
 
In a period where the Soviet Union was the biggest threat to our existence, a motley crew of Arab terrorists were hardly a blip on the radar. I can excuse the lack of that crystal ball in 1983, especially as Cap was instrumental in modernizing the armed forces against a much more dngerous (at the time) foe. Not sure I can excuse the same failure to act following an attack in 2000 when a different President, knowing much more about the threat of terrorism to the US than we did in 1983, decided not to respond.
I'm sorry, did just say that the murder of more Marines in one day since Iwo Jima was "hardly a blip on the radar"? Are you ####ing kidding me? Do you KNOW any Marines? Two question:

1) How many people died in the attack in 2000. How many died in Beirut?

2) How many Marines were bombed by the Soviets during the Reagan era?

So basically, the crux of your excusing these guys is "hey, we're not going to go after anybody unless we know that they're going to be a problem in 30 years??" WTF? And do you seriously think we didn't know terrorism was a dangerous thing back then - 'cause you googling some of Reagan's speeches is going to make you look pretty ignorant in that regard.

Man, you are just NOT bringing much of any validity to the table. It's easy enough to admit:

1) Look, Carter didn't cause the resue attempt to fail.

2) Yes, we SHOULD avenge the death of Americans - REGARDKLESS of who kills them.

I certainly agree we should have avenged the Cole. - See? not so hard, I can also tell you terrorist were a LOT better at hiding their tracks and NOT presenting targets like the one Reagan didn't attack in 2000 than they were back in the Reagan's day.
1. Who had the capability to do more damage to the US at the time? The USSR.2. How many Servicemen died in proxy wars with Soviet client states?

3. Carter approved Operation Eagle Claw. It was under-manned. Eight helicopters to attack an embassy in the middle of hostile territory, and rescue 52 hostages? All RH53s with no attack helicopter support? It was a poorly planned mission that Carter approved. It failed. It was doomed to failure. That makes him responsible.

4. Terrorism as a whole was a blp on the radar compared to MAD. However, the barracks in Lebanon that were considered for retaliation were filled with Iranian trainers, not Hezbollah leaders. Perhaps if they were filled with Hezbollah leaders an attack would have made a little more sense. Nobody could have foreseen the rise of AQ in the 80s. Criticizing with 20/20 hindsight, you are.
Man, you sure don't answer many questions do you?? So you're saying Reagan's policy was to ignore the deaths hundreds of American Marines - unless they were killed by {gasp!} the Russians? -And you agree with this policy? Wow. Sad really. :(
 
You know damned well there was no internet then so finding a link is damned hard.

Dude, you're cracking me up. You're telling me you can't find Reagan's speeches on the 'net? You DO know they posted stuff that said and done BEFORE the internet, don't you? :D

But do you really think that eight helicopters even loaded with Marines had a prayer in hell of rescuing 52 hostages held in the capital of a hostile country?

Do you think Carter specified the criterion for the mission?

Do you really think putting together a mission like that with no contingency planning is an act of military genius?

Do you think Carter told required this happen? See, he actually HAD "military geniuses" that designed this plan. - As is their job.

Do you really think that leaving behind documents identifying our operatives in Iraq was an act of competence? Do you think leaving behind six intact helicopters was good planning? And the mission was aborted before the third(it was actually the fourth) helicoipter crashed.

Do you think Carter specified that when he drafted the rescue attempt all by himself? Heck, I'm surprised he wasn't flying the damn birds too! I guess you're giving him a break for not alleging that he made the chopper pilot clip the other bird - thanks for that. What a guy! He completely bypassed the entire Pentagon and drafted the whole plan himself! :D

Carter approved the plan. It's his failure.

And, even though he wasn't responsible for a single element that caused the failure, like a man, he nutted up and took responsibility. Again, if you're play it that way, Bush is directly and personably responsbile for the deaths of almost 3,000 more soldiers than Carter - which is worse??

You act like this is the only President who approved failed covert missions. I have news for ya buddy, he ain't. And a whole bunch died under Reagan's (& virtually every other President's) command too. 'Course, we don't hear a lot about those... (hence the "covert") If you're gonna cherry-pick one, you gotta include them all.
Carter had military experience. Granted in was on nuclear subs, but he was CIC and he approved the mission. That included any contingency planning (obviously there wasn't any), staffing, command structure and mision size (including the aircraft). It doesn't matter what he specified. He was presented with a bad plan and he approved it. It makes it his responsibility.
 
In a period where the Soviet Union was the biggest threat to our existence, a motley crew of Arab terrorists were hardly a blip on the radar. I can excuse the lack of that crystal ball in 1983, especially as Cap was instrumental in modernizing the armed forces against a much more dngerous (at the time) foe. Not sure I can excuse the same failure to act following an attack in 2000 when a different President, knowing much more about the threat of terrorism to the US than we did in 1983, decided not to respond.
I'm sorry, did just say that the murder of more Marines in one day since Iwo Jima was "hardly a blip on the radar"? Are you ####ing kidding me? Do you KNOW any Marines? Two question:

1) How many people died in the attack in 2000. How many died in Beirut?

2) How many Marines were bombed by the Soviets during the Reagan era?

So basically, the crux of your excusing these guys is "hey, we're not going to go after anybody unless we know that they're going to be a problem in 30 years??" WTF? And do you seriously think we didn't know terrorism was a dangerous thing back then - 'cause you googling some of Reagan's speeches is going to make you look pretty ignorant in that regard.

Man, you are just NOT bringing much of any validity to the table. It's easy enough to admit:

1) Look, Carter didn't cause the resue attempt to fail.

2) Yes, we SHOULD avenge the death of Americans - REGARDKLESS of who kills them.

I certainly agree we should have avenged the Cole. - See? not so hard, I can also tell you terrorist were a LOT better at hiding their tracks and NOT presenting targets like the one Reagan didn't attack in 2000 than they were back in the Reagan's day.
1. Who had the capability to do more damage to the US at the time? The USSR.2. How many Servicemen died in proxy wars with Soviet client states?

3. Carter approved Operation Eagle Claw. It was under-manned. Eight helicopters to attack an embassy in the middle of hostile territory, and rescue 52 hostages? All RH53s with no attack helicopter support? It was a poorly planned mission that Carter approved. It failed. It was doomed to failure. That makes him responsible.

4. Terrorism as a whole was a blp on the radar compared to MAD. However, the barracks in Lebanon that were considered for retaliation were filled with Iranian trainers, not Hezbollah leaders. Perhaps if they were filled with Hezbollah leaders an attack would have made a little more sense. Nobody could have foreseen the rise of AQ in the 80s. Criticizing with 20/20 hindsight, you are.
Man, you sure don't answer many questions do you?? So you're saying Reagan's policy was to ignore the deaths hundreds of American Marines - unless they were killed by {gasp!} the Russians? -And you agree with this policy? Wow. Sad really. :(
Now you're putting words in my mouth. Sad. And stupid.Saying Carter didn't cause that mission to fail is like saying Bush didn't cause the Iraq occupation to fail. They are irrelevant statements. Carter approved a plan that didn't succeed. His responsibility. It doesn't matter that he wasn't the one executing it.

 
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He is wrong about the helicopters. Two failed in a sandstorm, a third sustained damage landing at an airstrip near Tabas and a fourth clipped a C-130 and crashed - but afterthe mission was already scrubbed. We left the remaining five RH-53s behind and unforgivable, we left behind our dead.
You're right. It's pretty common knowledge. Bueno hasn't posted any facts, just opinions. - And ignores any of the hard questions. Absolutely ####ed up that we left the dead. Not our best day. But, I'm pretty sure it wasn't ol Jimmy at the helm saying "#### the dead! - we gotta go!"
 
Carter should be the answer here but too many Bush haters on this board. Take this poll in about 10 years for better results.
Not a "hater" (voted for the guy the 1st time), but certainly the argument for Bush v. Carter can be made pretty easily, no??Lessee what was listed for Carter:1) Iranian Hostages - Don't know how we could control that. Still think some shadiness happened with Reagan and that whole affair. 2) Moscow Olympics? - Who cares?3) Panama? - Hasn't really affected us much has it? 4) Econony - I think we've learned that - while politicians like to take credit - it's really the FED if anyone who controls the economy. - But agreed, Tax rates under Carter were the suck. I just don't think any of those -or ALL of those combined - are anywhere near the f'ing mess we're in now. I mean Carter wasn't exactly a great leader, but he didn't initiate a war - under incorrect pretenses - that's left almost 30,000 dead or wounded American soldiers, tens of thousands of dead Iraqis and destabilize an entire region. - I mean, even our own NIE (not exactly liberals, mind you) have said the War in Iraq has made America and the World far less safe. That's the thing - Iraq. Without that, Bush would look pretty damn good. But Iraq violated a lot of his campaign promises (fiscal responsibility, no nation-building, etc.) - and permanently tainted his Presidency. Speaking of ten years; I think over time the hysteria and rending of garments over Clinton lying about a ####### is going to fall away. That was stupid even back then. I have a feeling historians are going to look back and :rolleyes:
Control of the Panama Canal was bought by the Chinese that hold it for the next 20 years or so. They are increasing the fee this year making it more expensive to use the canal and in turn making it more expensive to ship.
 
He is wrong about the helicopters. Two failed in a sandstorm, a third sustained damage landing at an airstrip near Tabas and a fourth clipped a C-130 and crashed - but afterthe mission was already scrubbed. We left the remaining five RH-53s behind and unforgivable, we left behind our dead.
You're right. It's pretty common knowledge. Bueno hasn't posted any facts, just opinions. - And ignores any of the hard questions. Absolutely ####ed up that we left the dead. Not our best day. But, I'm pretty sure it wasn't ol Jimmy at the helm saying "#### the dead! - we gotta go!"
Somebody did. Somebody higher up than the mission commander scrubbed the mission and gave that order. If Bush is repsonsible for any mission in Iraq then Carter is responsible for this mission. You can't have it both ways.And I've posted plenty of facts. It's you that hasn't.
 
In a period where the Soviet Union was the biggest threat to our existence, a motley crew of Arab terrorists were hardly a blip on the radar. I can excuse the lack of that crystal ball in 1983, especially as Cap was instrumental in modernizing the armed forces against a much more dngerous (at the time) foe. Not sure I can excuse the same failure to act following an attack in 2000 when a different President, knowing much more about the threat of terrorism to the US than we did in 1983, decided not to respond.
I'm sorry, did just say that the murder of more Marines in one day since Iwo Jima was "hardly a blip on the radar"? Are you ####ing kidding me? Do you KNOW any Marines? Two question:

1) How many people died in the attack in 2000. How many died in Beirut?

2) How many Marines were bombed by the Soviets during the Reagan era?

So basically, the crux of your excusing these guys is "hey, we're not going to go after anybody unless we know that they're going to be a problem in 30 years??" WTF? And do you seriously think we didn't know terrorism was a dangerous thing back then - 'cause you googling some of Reagan's speeches is going to make you look pretty ignorant in that regard.

Man, you are just NOT bringing much of any validity to the table. It's easy enough to admit:

1) Look, Carter didn't cause the resue attempt to fail.

2) Yes, we SHOULD avenge the death of Americans - REGARDKLESS of who kills them.

I certainly agree we should have avenged the Cole. - See? not so hard, I can also tell you terrorist were a LOT better at hiding their tracks and NOT presenting targets like the one Reagan didn't attack in 2000 than they were back in the Reagan's day.
1. Who had the capability to do more damage to the US at the time? The USSR.2. How many Servicemen died in proxy wars with Soviet client states?

3. Carter approved Operation Eagle Claw. It was under-manned. Eight helicopters to attack an embassy in the middle of hostile territory, and rescue 52 hostages? All RH53s with no attack helicopter support? It was a poorly planned mission that Carter approved. It failed. It was doomed to failure. That makes him responsible.

4. Terrorism as a whole was a blp on the radar compared to MAD. However, the barracks in Lebanon that were considered for retaliation were filled with Iranian trainers, not Hezbollah leaders. Perhaps if they were filled with Hezbollah leaders an attack would have made a little more sense. Nobody could have foreseen the rise of AQ in the 80s. Criticizing with 20/20 hindsight, you are.
Man, you sure don't answer many questions do you?? So you're saying Reagan's policy was to ignore the deaths hundreds of American Marines - unless they were killed by {gasp!} the Russians? -And you agree with this policy? Wow. Sad really. :(
Now you're putting words in my mouth. Sad. And stupid.
I'm sorry, did you NOT justify Reagan's not avenging the deaths of 241 American Marines because the soviet union was a "bigger threat" and this was just a "blip on the radar?" - man, I gotta get reading glasses or something - 'cause I coulda sworn that's what you've posted. :confused:

When you're ready and/or capable of answering the hard questions and discussing this intelligently, let me know. Cherry-picking one incident (because it's apparently contained in the only book you read?) :D And blaming Jimmy for everything that went wrong - and having no proof whatsoever (while or course, NOT appllying that standard to anyone you DO like) is pretty weak.

Say goodnight, Gracie.

:thumbdown:

 
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In a period where the Soviet Union was the biggest threat to our existence, a motley crew of Arab terrorists were hardly a blip on the radar. I can excuse the lack of that crystal ball in 1983, especially as Cap was instrumental in modernizing the armed forces against a much more dngerous (at the time) foe. Not sure I can excuse the same failure to act following an attack in 2000 when a different President, knowing much more about the threat of terrorism to the US than we did in 1983, decided not to respond.
I'm sorry, did just say that the murder of more Marines in one day since Iwo Jima was "hardly a blip on the radar"? Are you ####ing kidding me? Do you KNOW any Marines? Two question:

1) How many people died in the attack in 2000. How many died in Beirut?

2) How many Marines were bombed by the Soviets during the Reagan era?

So basically, the crux of your excusing these guys is "hey, we're not going to go after anybody unless we know that they're going to be a problem in 30 years??" WTF? And do you seriously think we didn't know terrorism was a dangerous thing back then - 'cause you googling some of Reagan's speeches is going to make you look pretty ignorant in that regard.

Man, you are just NOT bringing much of any validity to the table. It's easy enough to admit:

1) Look, Carter didn't cause the resue attempt to fail.

2) Yes, we SHOULD avenge the death of Americans - REGARDKLESS of who kills them.

I certainly agree we should have avenged the Cole. - See? not so hard, I can also tell you terrorist were a LOT better at hiding their tracks and NOT presenting targets like the one Reagan didn't attack in 2000 than they were back in the Reagan's day.
1. Who had the capability to do more damage to the US at the time? The USSR.2. How many Servicemen died in proxy wars with Soviet client states?

3. Carter approved Operation Eagle Claw. It was under-manned. Eight helicopters to attack an embassy in the middle of hostile territory, and rescue 52 hostages? All RH53s with no attack helicopter support? It was a poorly planned mission that Carter approved. It failed. It was doomed to failure. That makes him responsible.

4. Terrorism as a whole was a blp on the radar compared to MAD. However, the barracks in Lebanon that were considered for retaliation were filled with Iranian trainers, not Hezbollah leaders. Perhaps if they were filled with Hezbollah leaders an attack would have made a little more sense. Nobody could have foreseen the rise of AQ in the 80s. Criticizing with 20/20 hindsight, you are.
Man, you sure don't answer many questions do you?? So you're saying Reagan's policy was to ignore the deaths hundreds of American Marines - unless they were killed by {gasp!} the Russians? -And you agree with this policy? Wow. Sad really. :(
Now you're putting words in my mouth. Sad. And stupid.
I'm sorry, did you NOT justify Reagan's not avenging the deaths of 241 American Marines because the soviet union was a bigger threat and this was just a "blip on the radar?" - man, I gotta get reading glasses or something - 'cause I coulda sworn that's what you've posted. :confused:

When you're read and/or capable of answering the hard questions and discussing this intelligently, let me know. Cherry-picking one incident (because it's apparently contained in the only book you read?) :D And blaming Jimmy for everything that went wrong - and having no proof whatsoever (while or course, NOT appllying that standard to anyone you DO like) is pretty weak.

Say goodnight, Gracie.

:thumbdown:
No, I didn't. I said there were bigger fish to fry and there was a good chance the target that was selected was not a good one as it was filled with Iranian advisors, not Hezbollah leaders. Had he a better target, he might have hit it. I wish he had hit something, but I understand why he didn't want to open up a war in the ME when winning the cold war was a more important goal.You really are incapable of having an intelligent conversation with twisting words or misapplying them anyway. Like the stupid attack on my reading habits. I've probably read more books on the subject of the Middle East than you've handled. Come back when you grow a brain that can comprehend more than one variable. Goodnight ****.

 
http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040621&s=lizza062104

It's often forgotten, but Reagan's eight years in office witnessed a marked increase in acts of international terrorism. In fact, terrorists killed far more Americans during the 1980s than during the 1990s.

+ In 1983, Hezbollah suicide bombers attacked the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, killing 63.

+ Later that year, in October, a 12,000-pound bomb destroyed the Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241 Americans--the most deadly terrorist strike against the United States until September 11.

+In March 1984, Islamic terrorists kidnapped, and eventually killed, a CIA officer.

+The following month, Hezbollah killed 18 American soldiers in an attack on a restaurant near an airbase in Spain.

+ Two U.S. military personnel were killed by another truck bombing in Beirut in September 1984.

+Terrorists hijacked an airliner, TWA 847, in July 1985 and killed one American, Navy diver Robert Stethem, whose corpse was thrown out of the plane and onto the runway.

+ In October came the Achille Lauro incident, in which Palestinian terrorists commandeered a cruise ship and executed Leon Klinghoffer, a wheelchair-bound American tourist.

+In December, Abu Nidal terrorists attacked travelers simultaneously at airports in Rome and Vienna.

+ In March 1986, terrorists killed four Americans in Greece.. Commenting on the years of passivity

NINE terrorists incidents. NINE "NO RESPONSES". Great Job Mr. President. :rolleyes: But, we didn't know they were a threat did we Bueno?? How many more than that is the Cole incident Bueno?? - In lives or events - whatever is easiest for you...

... Reagan's biographer, Lou Cannon, observed, "For five years of his presidency, Reagan talked tough about terrorism but did virtually nothing in the way of retaliatory action to stop it."

Reagan's failures in Lebanon have long been seen as one of the worst blots on his record. Cannon noted, "If measured in loss of American lives abroad, Lebanon was the greatest disaster of the Reagan presidency." It was "a case study of foreign policy calamity" and the best illustration of "the naïveté, ignorance, and undisciplined internal conflict characteristic of the Reagan presidency." Sent on an ill-defined peacekeeping mission to restore order to the turbulent country, Reagan repeatedly pledged to stay the course. Four days after the devastating car bombing of the Marine barracks, he said "Let me ask those who say we should get out of Lebanon: If we were to leave Lebanon now, what message would that send to those who foment instability and terrorism?" Four months later, we got out of Lebanon.

Gee, sound familiar to anybody??? :confused:

The message this sent to terrorists became clear in 1996, when Osama bin Laden tauntingly declared war against the United States: "We say to the Defense Secretary that his talk can induce a grieving mother to laughter! [A]nd shows the fears that had enshrined you all. Where was this false courage of yours when the explosion in Beirut took place in 1983? You were turned into scattered pits and pieces at that time; 241 mainly Marine soldiers were killed."

Okay, so he suucked at the "War on Terror" - even though he delivered some pretty speeches (that somebody wrote for him) about it. At least he can fall back on that spectacular success that he initiated call "The War On Drugs". :D

 
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http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040621&s=lizza062104

It's often forgotten, but Reagan's eight years in office witnessed a marked increase in acts of international terrorism. In fact, terrorists killed far more Americans during the 1980s than during the 1990s.

+ In 1983, Hezbollah suicide bombers attacked the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, killing 63.

+ Later that year, in October, a 12,000-pound bomb destroyed the Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241 Americans--the most deadly terrorist strike against the United States until September 11.

+In March 1984, Islamic terrorists kidnapped, and eventually killed, a CIA officer.

+The following month, Hezbollah killed 18 American soldiers in an attack on a restaurant near an airbase in Spain.

+ Two U.S. military personnel were killed by another truck bombing in Beirut in September 1984.

+Terrorists hijacked an airliner, TWA 847, in July 1985 and killed one American, Navy diver Robert Stethem, whose corpse was thrown out of the plane and onto the runway.

+ In October came the Achille Lauro incident, in which Palestinian terrorists commandeered a cruise ship and executed Leon Klinghoffer, a wheelchair-bound American tourist.

+In December, Abu Nidal terrorists attacked travelers simultaneously at airports in Rome and Vienna.

+ In March 1986, terrorists killed four Americans in Greece.. Commenting on the years of passivity

NINE terrorists incidents. NINE "NO RESPONSES". Great Job Mr. President. :rolleyes: But, we didn't know they were a threat did we Bueno?? How many more than that is the Cole incident Bueno?? - In lives or events - whatever is easiest for you...

... Reagan's biographer, Lou Cannon, observed, "For five years of his presidency, Reagan talked tough about terrorism but did virtually nothing in the way of retaliatory action to stop it."

Reagan's failures in Lebanon have long been seen as one of the worst blots on his record. Cannon noted, "If measured in loss of American lives abroad, Lebanon was the greatest disaster of the Reagan presidency." It was "a case study of foreign policy calamity" and the best illustration of "the naïveté, ignorance, and undisciplined internal conflict characteristic of the Reagan presidency." Sent on an ill-defined peacekeeping mission to restore order to the turbulent country, Reagan repeatedly pledged to stay the course. Four days after the devastating car bombing of the Marine barracks, he said "Let me ask those who say we should get out of Lebanon: If we were to leave Lebanon now, what message would that send to those who foment instability and terrorism?" Four months later, we got out of Lebanon.

Gee, sound familiar to anybody??? :confused:

The message this sent to terrorists became clear in 1996, when Osama bin Laden tauntingly declared war against the United States: "We say to the Defense Secretary that his talk can induce a grieving mother to laughter! [A]nd shows the fears that had enshrined you all. Where was this false courage of yours when the explosion in Beirut took place in 1983? You were turned into scattered pits and pieces at that time; 241 mainly Marine soldiers were killed."

Okay, so he suucked at the "War on Terror" - even though he delivered some pretty speeches (that somebody wrote for him) about it. At least he can fall back on that spectacular success that he initiated call "The War On Drugs". :D
Very convenient of you to leave out the Berlin Disco bombing and the Pan Am bombing. Reagan went after Libya if you recall. As for retaliating, who were we supposed to retaliate against? Lebanon, a country that was in civil war with the Israeli Army controlling the southern half to Beirut? Syria, a firmly entrenched Soviet client state? There weren't a lot of options.
 
He wanted radical arms reductions because he knew he could't compete with the US in another arms race.
He made the decision to reform. Others around him were blind to the facts and would have gladly continued the Cold War. The 1991 coup, that ultimately failed, shows that. He wanted to end the Cold War. Reagan wanted to win the Cold War. Almost everything under Gorbachev smacks of political reform. Elections, market reforms, and the like have little to do with the arms race but they have everything to do with ending the Cold War.
Reagan pushed for victory. Gorbachev saw the handwriting on the fall and sensibly surrendered in a way that at least preserved some form of Russian dignity. Might not have if not pushed.
You refuse to acknowledge Gorbachev's role in it all. Astonishing! If Gorbachev hadn't been at the helm, the reforms - the political and economic - might not have happened at all. You act as if anyone at the helm could have done the very same thing and had the same success. Clearly the hardliners within the USSR felt differently. They would have clung to the old system, the status quo and Reagan would have kept spending until out of office. Would Bush have been elected? Would he have had the clout to push for that kind of defense spending? Doubtful. Give Gorbachev credit for being more than a simple pragmatist. His reforms ushered a new line of thought while Reagan's arms build up and support of puppet regimes was straight out of the '50's.
 
He wanted radical arms reductions because he knew he could't compete with the US in another arms race.
He made the decision to reform. Others around him were blind to the facts and would have gladly continued the Cold War. The 1991 coup, that ultimately failed, shows that. He wanted to end the Cold War. Reagan wanted to win the Cold War. Almost everything under Gorbachev smacks of political reform. Elections, market reforms, and the like have little to do with the arms race but they have everything to do with ending the Cold War.
Reagan pushed for victory. Gorbachev saw the handwriting on the fall and sensibly surrendered in a way that at least preserved some form of Russian dignity. Might not have if not pushed.
You refuse to acknowledge Gorbachev's role in it all. Astonishing! If Gorbachev hadn't been at the helm, the reforms - the political and economic - might not have happened at all. You act as if anyone at the helm could have done the very same thing and had the same success. Clearly the hardliners within the USSR felt differently. They would have clung to the old system, the status quo and Reagan would have kept spending until out of office. Would Bush have been elected? Would he have had the clout to push for that kind of defense spending? Doubtful. Give Gorbachev credit for being more than a simple pragmatist. His reforms ushered a new line of thought while Reagan's arms build up and support of puppet regimes was straight out of the '50's.
I acknowledged Gorbache's role. He did the sensible thing and gave up. But he was pushed. If someone else was at the helm, the military buildup would have bankrupted them and we would have been at the same place, though possibly not as fast.
 
http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040621&s=lizza062104

It's often forgotten, but Reagan's eight years in office witnessed a marked increase in acts of international terrorism. In fact, terrorists killed far more Americans during the 1980s than during the 1990s.

+ In 1983, Hezbollah suicide bombers attacked the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, killing 63.

+ Later that year, in October, a 12,000-pound bomb destroyed the Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241 Americans--the most deadly terrorist strike against the United States until September 11.

+In March 1984, Islamic terrorists kidnapped, and eventually killed, a CIA officer.

+The following month, Hezbollah killed 18 American soldiers in an attack on a restaurant near an airbase in Spain.

+ Two U.S. military personnel were killed by another truck bombing in Beirut in September 1984.

+Terrorists hijacked an airliner, TWA 847, in July 1985 and killed one American, Navy diver Robert Stethem, whose corpse was thrown out of the plane and onto the runway.

+ In October came the Achille Lauro incident, in which Palestinian terrorists commandeered a cruise ship and executed Leon Klinghoffer, a wheelchair-bound American tourist.

+In December, Abu Nidal terrorists attacked travelers simultaneously at airports in Rome and Vienna.

+ In March 1986, terrorists killed four Americans in Greece.. Commenting on the years of passivity

NINE terrorists incidents. NINE "NO RESPONSES". Great Job Mr. President. :rolleyes: But, we didn't know they were a threat did we Bueno?? How many more than that is the Cole incident Bueno?? - In lives or events - whatever is easiest for you...

... Reagan's biographer, Lou Cannon, observed, "For five years of his presidency, Reagan talked tough about terrorism but did virtually nothing in the way of retaliatory action to stop it."

Reagan's failures in Lebanon have long been seen as one of the worst blots on his record. Cannon noted, "If measured in loss of American lives abroad, Lebanon was the greatest disaster of the Reagan presidency." It was "a case study of foreign policy calamity" and the best illustration of "the naïveté, ignorance, and undisciplined internal conflict characteristic of the Reagan presidency." Sent on an ill-defined peacekeeping mission to restore order to the turbulent country, Reagan repeatedly pledged to stay the course. Four days after the devastating car bombing of the Marine barracks, he said "Let me ask those who say we should get out of Lebanon: If we were to leave Lebanon now, what message would that send to those who foment instability and terrorism?" Four months later, we got out of Lebanon.

Gee, sound familiar to anybody??? :confused:

The message this sent to terrorists became clear in 1996, when Osama bin Laden tauntingly declared war against the United States: "We say to the Defense Secretary that his talk can induce a grieving mother to laughter! [A]nd shows the fears that had enshrined you all. Where was this false courage of yours when the explosion in Beirut took place in 1983? You were turned into scattered pits and pieces at that time; 241 mainly Marine soldiers were killed."

Okay, so he suucked at the "War on Terror" - even though he delivered some pretty speeches (that somebody wrote for him) about it. At least he can fall back on that spectacular success that he initiated call "The War On Drugs". :D
There was no war on terror at the time. There was hardly a terorist safe haven to attack. They weren't the #1 priority. A WOT would detract from the primary objective of bringing the Soviet Union to its knees. Wasn't enough money for both.And I assume that if we get out of Iraq tomorrow, in 20 years you'll be blaming Bush too. Try to see the forest for the trees - if you can see past that foaming mouth of yours.

 
http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040621&s=lizza062104

It's often forgotten, but Reagan's eight years in office witnessed a marked increase in acts of international terrorism. In fact, terrorists killed far more Americans during the 1980s than during the 1990s.

+ In 1983, Hezbollah suicide bombers attacked the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, killing 63.

+ Later that year, in October, a 12,000-pound bomb destroyed the Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 241 Americans--the most deadly terrorist strike against the United States until September 11.

+In March 1984, Islamic terrorists kidnapped, and eventually killed, a CIA officer.

+The following month, Hezbollah killed 18 American soldiers in an attack on a restaurant near an airbase in Spain.

+ Two U.S. military personnel were killed by another truck bombing in Beirut in September 1984.

+Terrorists hijacked an airliner, TWA 847, in July 1985 and killed one American, Navy diver Robert Stethem, whose corpse was thrown out of the plane and onto the runway.

+ In October came the Achille Lauro incident, in which Palestinian terrorists commandeered a cruise ship and executed Leon Klinghoffer, a wheelchair-bound American tourist.

+In December, Abu Nidal terrorists attacked travelers simultaneously at airports in Rome and Vienna.

+ In March 1986, terrorists killed four Americans in Greece.. Commenting on the years of passivity

NINE terrorists incidents. NINE "NO RESPONSES". Great Job Mr. President. :rolleyes: But, we didn't know they were a threat did we Bueno?? How many more than that is the Cole incident Bueno?? - In lives or events - whatever is easiest for you...

... Reagan's biographer, Lou Cannon, observed, "For five years of his presidency, Reagan talked tough about terrorism but did virtually nothing in the way of retaliatory action to stop it."

Reagan's failures in Lebanon have long been seen as one of the worst blots on his record. Cannon noted, "If measured in loss of American lives abroad, Lebanon was the greatest disaster of the Reagan presidency." It was "a case study of foreign policy calamity" and the best illustration of "the naïveté, ignorance, and undisciplined internal conflict characteristic of the Reagan presidency." Sent on an ill-defined peacekeeping mission to restore order to the turbulent country, Reagan repeatedly pledged to stay the course. Four days after the devastating car bombing of the Marine barracks, he said "Let me ask those who say we should get out of Lebanon: If we were to leave Lebanon now, what message would that send to those who foment instability and terrorism?" Four months later, we got out of Lebanon.

Gee, sound familiar to anybody??? :confused:

The message this sent to terrorists became clear in 1996, when Osama bin Laden tauntingly declared war against the United States: "We say to the Defense Secretary that his talk can induce a grieving mother to laughter! [A]nd shows the fears that had enshrined you all. Where was this false courage of yours when the explosion in Beirut took place in 1983? You were turned into scattered pits and pieces at that time; 241 mainly Marine soldiers were killed."

Okay, so he suucked at the "War on Terror" - even though he delivered some pretty speeches (that somebody wrote for him) about it. At least he can fall back on that spectacular success that he initiated call "The War On Drugs". :D
Very convenient of you to leave out the Berlin Disco bombing and the Pan Am bombing. Reagan went after Libya if you recall. As for retaliating, who were we supposed to retaliate against? Lebanon, a country that was in civil war with the Israeli Army controlling the southern half to Beirut? Syria, a firmly entrenched Soviet client state? There weren't a lot of options.
Not to mention that an attack on the ME in those years could have cost us a fragile relationship with Egypt. I thought Bush bashers were bad. This guy has lost all rational thought.

 
Already been moved beyond but you keep plugging away I am sure AE will support your cherrypicking of facts and what the reality is.
Gave you the whole history. You;re the one that tried to cherry pick - and got your ### handed to you.Typical libersl strategy. Walk away from the arguement when they are proven wrong. Pretend it never happened.
Lol, and you wonder why you have no friends.
 
Ford - meh

LBJ - did enough good to offset the bad

Nixon - a crook but not a horrible president

Bush II - squandered the good he did in the first term when US came under attack

that leaves Carter as an utter failure.

 
To all the "Reagan was the greatest thing since sliced bread" people out there: 1. He was personable and a great communicator. (being an actor does that)2. Here's a story you may not know. It definitely impacted my view of the guy: Back when the Marine barracks was bombed in Lebanon, we had intelligence that gave us the exact location of Hammas leadership and 'troops'. It was a cherry of a target (terrorists have since learned not to do this); The building was removed from civilians and innocents, we knew exactly where it was and who was in there. The military formed a plan to bomb the GD thing into the stone age. Everyone except Reagan's good buddy Cap Wienberger agreed with the plan. Then, minutes before the planes were to leave the carrier (and late at night in Washington), Reagan's buddy Cap decided - on his own - to cancel the mission. Reagan snoozed peacefully. When news of this broke in the White House and Pentagon, people went nuts. They were sure Cap would at least get fired (if not prosecuted for treason). But good, kindly old half-wit Reagan didn't want to annoy his good buddy Cap. - No discipline whatsoever. No new strike either. In fact, we waited a few months and slunk out of there. Why does that matter today? Because, if any of you have listened, OBL (in his 9/11 manifesto), Mullah Omar and other terrorists continue to this day to refer to America's failure to avenge the deaths of 241 Marines and our subsequent pull-out as 'proof' to fellow terrorists that America simply does not have the will to take any sort of a hit. ...and my friends, when your failure to act simply because your buddy didn't want to - and that failure to act has deadly repurcussions over 20 into the future - Shows a serious lack of thought or leadership. Learned something new for the day, huh?
I assume you are referring to plans to target the Sheik Abdullah barracks in Baalbek, Lebanon, which housed Iranian Revolutionary Guards believed to be training Hezbollah fighters? Baalbek is hardly isolated. It is the major Shia center in Lebanon. In a period where the Soviet Union was the biggest threat to our existence, a motley crew of Arab terrorists were hardly a blip on the radar. I can excuse the lack of that crystal ball in 1983, especially as Cap was instrumental in modernizing the armed forces against a much more dngerous (at the time) foe. Not sure I can excuse the same failure to act following an attack in 2000 when a different President, knowing much more about the threat of terrorism to the US than we did in 1983, decided not to respond.
Talk about being a partisan apologist. This post is pathetic.
 
Already been moved beyond but you keep plugging away I am sure AE will support your cherrypicking of facts and what the reality is.
Gave you the whole history. You;re the one that tried to cherry pick - and got your ### handed to you.Typical libersl strategy. Walk away from the arguement when they are proven wrong. Pretend it never happened.
You go ahead and feel good about yourself. You have gotten your butt kicked by me so many times I am loathe to burst your bubble.
True and verifiable.
 
wow another partisan political bickerfest. Whoda thunk it?

Carter was the most inept, by far. He continually lowers the bar as a former prez even today.
This is just plain stupidity.Carter Center Health Programs:

* As Guinea worm is poised to become the next disease after smallpox to be wiped off the face of the Earth, eradication efforts are rejuvenating communities throughout Africa, enabling children to return to school and farmers to their fields. The Center spearheads the international campaign, which has reduced cases by more than 99.5 percent since 1986.

* Improved sanitation and hygiene are critical to public health and overall development. As part of the Center's trachoma control efforts, more than 200,000 latrines were built in Ethiopia since 2004, transforming life in those communities.

* We have assisted in the delivery of more than 75 million treatments in 11 river blindness-endemic countries in Latin America and Africa since 1996. The Carter Center is leading the drive to eradicate this debilitating disease where it occurs in the Americas by the end of the decade.

* Building on village-based drug distribution systems now in place in Nigeria to prevent river blindness, the Center also is reducing incidences of the parasitic disease schistosomiasis, enhancing children's abilities to grow, develop, and learn.

* The same health care delivery infrastructure in Nigeria also is helping to prevent and treat lymphatic filariasis, a disfiguring and shame-ridden disease afflicting the poorest of the poor.

* In some countries, the biggest factor to poor health is lack of access to trained health personnel. By strengthening the training of Ethiopia public health staff, 90 percent of the people in this large African country, who live in less developed rural areas, have greater access to basic disease prevention and health care services.

* More than 4 million small-scale farmers in 15 Sub-Saharan African countries have learned improved agricultural techniques to double or triple grain production, growing more food for their families and boosting local economies.

* Because mental and physical health are interconnected, the Center has led international efforts to reduce stigma and discrimination against people with mental illnesses and to achieve greater equity for mental health in the health care system.

* The Center is the base for the International Task Force for Disease Eradication. The group has reviewed more than 100 infectious diseases and identified six as potentially eradicable.
Carter Center Peace Programs:
# The Democracy Program: working for the development of inclusive democratic societies and the empowerment of citizens through election observation, consensus-building for international standards for democratic elections, and democracy-strengthening activities in emerging democracies and regional organizations.

# Human Rights Program: intervening on behalf of victims of human rights abuses; strengthening the voices of human rights defenders internationally; and building capacity for rule of law in partnerships with civil society, governments, and international organizations.

# The Conflict Resolution Program: helping prevent deadly conflict, mediating differences, and ensuring that peace processes become irreversible at the invitation of parties to disputes and assisting capacity building for conflict resolution in regional organizations.

# The Americas Program: improving regional cooperation and the deepening of democracy within the Western Hemisphere, thwarting corruption, increasing transparency,, and decreasing social inequities to ensure that free and fair elections lead to the consolidation of democratic institutions and rule of law.

# China Program: advising China's Ministry of Civil Affairs on local elections practices, voter education, and data collection.

# The Global Development Initiative: assisting developing countries with the expertise to help them devise their own plans for sustainable development.
most people on this board don't know anything about LBJ, he was awful as well...awful. So bad, his own party turned on him mid presidency.
What made him so awful? He obviously ####ed up Vietnam. Outside of Vietname what else made him so awful?
 
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I've come to the conclusion that each one is worse than the one before him.

G. Washington > a whole bunch of guys > GWB

 
Anybody voting Clinton is a complete idiot.

I've you are a dyed-in-the-wool republican, vote Carter for godsakes.

 

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