Re: The greatest President in our time!
Come on lets not elevate President Reagan to Sainthood just yet. Im coming from the perspective of someone that voted for him two times.
Lets have a look at his record shall we?
In 1983, President Reagan initiated a strategic opening to Iraq, then in the third year of a war of attrition with neighboring Iran. Although Iraq had started the war with an attack in 1980,the war started to go Irans way by 1982.
The Reagan administration was beginning to think that Iraq might lose the war, so guess who popped upon the scene? Ya Bunkie theres good old Rumy to the rescue.
Reagan chose Rumsfeld as his emissary to Hussein in December of 1983, and in March of 1984, Iraq begun to use chemical weapons against Iran. On November 1983, the first sustained use of poison gas since a 1925 treaty banning the use of chemical weapons.
Rumy never mentioned this blatant violation of international law to Sadamm, but in all fairness he did mention it to Iraqs foreign minister Tariq Aziz to most people that would seem to be dereliction of duty, by not raising the issue with the leader, and instigator, of the war.
Reagan offered Hussein financial credits that eventually made Iraq the third-largest recipient of US assistance. President Reagan normalized diplomatic relations, and began providing Iraq with intelligence for the battlefield.
So for not much to be to annoyed about, with the exception of that little chemical blip, on the way to sainthood right? After all who was it that said the enemy of my enemy is my friend?
On August 25, 1988 - five days after the Iran-Iraq War ended - Iraq attacked 48 Kurdish villages more than 100 miles from Iran. As it turned out, the Reagan administration agreed that Iraq had gassed the Kurds, but strongly opposed sanctions, or even cutting off financial assistance.
Colin Powell, then the national security adviser, coordinated the Reagan administration's opposition.
There is also that little inconvenience called Iran contra, anybody else heard of it?
