Reagan finally gets bashed for Lebanon in 9/11 hearings

[FullCountNotRecount]

by John Lehman of all people. Said Reagan handled the Marine Barracks bombing reaction poorly. I remember Ronnie comparing the fact that they didn't have barricades around the barracks to not getting your kitchen remodeled by the time the contractor promises. If they had 24 hour news and played that quote over and over like they did Clinton's "is is" quote, Reagan would look foolish also.

[BOSSHOG]

1. If retreating in the face of a terrorist attack

gives solace to terrorists then reagan (who raised taxes by the way) was a godsend to bin laden.

[arcane1]

2. Ray-gun is also the guy who took Iraq OFF the terrorist-sponsor list

and proceeded to kiss Saddam's behind

[xchrom]

3. saddam and reagan sittin in a tree

k-i-ss-i-n-g--
one of first signs that our foreign policy in the mid-east was so screwed up. but of course no one in the reagan admin or the cia or the defence dept. knew saddam was a lunatic -- nah, nobody knew that. no way.

[arcane1]

4. nah, they had no idea... right...

one wonders if Saddam knew the nature of whom he was getting in bed with, too. First, they quietly sell weapons to Iran while he is at war with them, then later gives him the green-light to retaliate against Kuwait, only to be betrayed by Poppy Bush.

they deserve each other

[DinahMoeHum]

15. and for that, we got 37 dead sailors from the USS Stark. . .

hit by an Exocet missle fired by the Iraqis (1987)

We're all forgetting this.

:evilfrown:

[el_gato]

6. a good link for that i.e. Reagan and Iraq terror list

THE CASE OF IRAQ AND THE EXPORT-IMPORT BANK
Henry B. Gonzalez, (TX-20)
House of Representatives - February 24, 1992)

"The most important event early in United States-Iraq relations was the Reagan administration's removal of Iraq from the list of nations supporting terrorism in 1982."
http://fas.org/spp/starwars/congress/1992/h920224g.htm

[olacan]

5. This

Just points out what I have felt for a long time. There is enough blame to spread across many administrations. Who was president when Klinghoffer (sp?) was killed, if Carter had handled the hostage crisis better. If the barracks bombing the first Twin Towers bombing, US Cole, TWA 800 (I do not buy the fuel tank theory) and a number of other incidents over the 20 or so years. While I do not think all those are linked directly I do believe that a case can be made that there is an indirect link. Americans for years years have been drawing a line in the sand then saying do not cross that line, then when something happens we just draw another line. I am not saying we should bomb someone every time we are attacked, but at some point you need to stand up and say enough.
I spent 23 years in the Air Force and if they want a 59 year old I am ready to go on active duty anywhere in the world.
Reaching for my flame suit, go ahead flame away.

[el_gato]

7. Perhaps if the CIA would stop destroying democracy in other nations

the world would be a more peaceful place

[xchrom]

8. now there's a thought

[ieoeja]

9. Agreed

Hostage taking was a common tactic by Islamic terrorists during the Reagan and Bush administrations. Reagan and Bush repeatedly ransomed those people back and the hostage taking continued. Then that pilot was captured in Mogadishu and ransom demands were delivered. Clinton responded by promising to return the Marines to Somalia if the pilot was NOT returned.

The pilot was returned and Islamic terrorists stopped taking Americans hostage.

On the other hand, what exactly did we do wrong regarding the first WTC bombing or the USS Cole bombing? The WTC perps have been rotting in solitary confinement for years. They are forbidden all contact with the outside world except their lawyer who is now in jail because she made the mistake of delivering a message from one of them. And Baby Bush has done a decent job with respect to hunting down the perps in the USS Cole bombing. Should we have attacked Yemen for a crime committed in their territory despite the fact that the Yemenese have, by all accounts, cooperated fully with the United States in hunting down these people?

[pacifictiger]

11. everyone seems to be sidestepping

the core issue that is the basis for all terrorism against us - the unequal treatment surrounding the Israeli/Palestinian issue and meddling in arab countries where we don't belong.
After 25 years, the next generation of arab terrorism toward america has now taken on a life of its own, and no amount of fighting will get rid of the original festering boil until those issues are treated with honesty and integrity instead of bullying and deception.

[frylock]

10. twa 800 was shot down by our navy

[Bridget Burke]

12. So, where was the Air Force on 9/11?

I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts. If the Department of DEFENSE had done their job on that day, quite a few lives would have been saved.

Indiscriminate bombing won't help much.

[olacan]

13. I am

going to assume you are inferring that we should have shot down the the four airliners. If we had done that there is no telling what the death count and destruction on the ground would have been. You cannot take out airplanes of that size without a lot lot debris falling somewhere. So as I see it, it was a no win deal no matter what we did once the terrorists had control of the planes. Would the Twin Towers still be standing yes. Would there have been a lot destruction on on the ground yes. Would people be saying how could a president order the shoot down of loaded commercial airliners? I am not sure in looking back once the hijacking started what would be the best course of action.
In response to the other post about the Navy shooting down TWA 800, what is your proof? If it was the Navy why was it covered up, why was the investigation botched?

[frylock]

14. why was it covered up..

gross criminal negligence. Read 'Into the Buzzsaw' for more insight into this story, and countless others that get swept under the rug by the media.

The Navy claimed that it had no ships closer to the site of the crash than the Aegis-missile cruiser Normandy, which it said was 185 miles to the south when the plane crashed. It turned out that the Navy subsequently had to acknowledge that it had some submarines closer to the site than the Normandy. Then it was learned that Dean Seward, a former Naval aviator, reported spotting an Aegis-missile cruiser just off the coast of Long Island only five hours before the TWA 800 crash. If it was the Normandy, it could not have been 185 miles away five hours later even if it had sailed at a steady 30 knots.

The Islip air control tower recorded four surface vessels that were only a few miles from the TWA Flight 800 crash site. One was only three miles away, and when the plane blew up, it sped out to sea doing 30 knots. Three others were closer to the shore. None of the four has been identified. Congressman James Traficant asked the FBI to reveal their identities in a letter last April. On July 27, the FBI sent him a letter saying they knew what three of them were, but they were precluded from revealing their identities for privacy reasons. They said the one that sped out to sea had not been identified, but because of its speed they knew it was at least 25 or 30 feet long, implying that it was a speedboat. They knew that was ridiculous because to be painted by radar at a distance of 29 nautical miles, it had to be over 100 feet tall.

On September 14, I asked James Kallstrom, the retired FBI assistant director who had charge of the TWA 800 investigation for the FBI, about the three vessels the FBI had refused to identify. His tape recorded reply was, "We all know what those were. In fact, I spoke about those publicly. They were Navy vessels that were on classified maneuvers."

"What about the one that went racing out to sea at 30 knots?' I asked. Kallstrom said, "That was a helicopter."

If Mr. Kallstrom knows what he is talking about, he has exposed another lie on the part of the Navy, because this would mean that there were at least three Navy vessels within five or six miles of the crash site. Kallstrom's claim that the fourth, the one that was only three miles from the crash site and fled the scene doing 30 knots, was a helicopter is highly suspect. Thirty knots is fast for a ship but dangerously slow for a helicopter at a low altitude. Kallstrom admitted he had no evidence to support this speculation.

The government's lies are hiding something. This involves the Navy, the FBI, the National Transportation Safety Board and the CIA. The CIA produced an animated video that was supposed to demonstrate that more than a hundred eyewitnesses who saw a missile blow up the plane were mistaken. It said what they really saw was the aircraft break apart when its center fuel tank blew up and then climb 3000 feet, trailing burning fuel as it ascended. The eyewitnesses say this is absurd and the CIA video is a bad cartoon. The CIA didn't interview any of them.