Mr. President,
I hope this letter finds you well. You have been very active in your criticism of the Bush administration and its handling of the war on terror and, more specifically, the war in Iraq. Your latest also include an attack on Prime Minister Tony Blair.
I hope that we are not to infer from your comments that you could have done a better job. After all, wasn't it your administration that allowed 52 Americans to be held in Iran for 444 days while you paced away in the Oval Office? Wasn't it on your watch that six American servicemen died during a poorly planned rescue attempt (a plan that was lobbied against by your Special Forces rep on the Joint Chiefs of Staff)? Were you not in the White House when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan? As I recall, your limp-wristed response was to boycott the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. That showed 'em.
Mr. President, the party of FDR and JFK has changed a lot since you were in office. It's now run by liberal apologists who see terror as a law enforcement problem and not an act of war. You may agree with these sentiments; thank God you no longer have an authority.
Posted by Matthew at March 22, 2004 03:01 PMThe following I'm about to list are facts, historical record, not opinion, they are facts you may research them for yourself.
April 18 1983: The US embassy in Beruit was bombed. 17 Americans were killed 8 of whom were CIA employees.
October 23, 1983: The Marine barracks in Beruit was bombed. 241 Marines were killed most of them were asleep in their racks. 4 months later the US Marines left beruit.
March 16, 1984: CIA station chief William Buckley was kidnapped by hezbollah terrorists. Eventually 10 americans were kidnapped and held by hezbollah in the span of ten years. Some were held for long than 6 years. Buckley was killed in captivity!
September 20, 1984: The US embassy in Beruit was again bombed. 24 americans were killed including 2 service personnel.
December 12, 1984: TWA flight 847, was hijacked enroute from Athens to Rome. Robert Dean Stetham, a US Navy diver, was shot and killed his body was dumped from the from the cabin of the plane onto the airport tarmac. An event that was widely broadcast on network news.
December 21, 1988: Pan AM flight 103 was blown up over Lockerbie Scotland.
I have a very vivid memory from my Senior year in high school of getting up one morning and seeing Jimmy Carter on TV telling all of america that the ill fated Delta team rescue attempt of the hostages in Iran was his decision and his responsibilty and he apoligized for it. Imagine that, a president stood up and took responsibilty for a decision he made even though that decision may have turned out to not have been a good one. I defy you to name a time when a US president has done that since.
When Ronald Reagan sent Marines into Beruit on some half brained attempt to show american resolve they got their asses kicked, in an assignment they were not equipped or trained to carry out. The whole thing was a huge bloody disaster. Did Ronald Reagan ever stand up and admit that the Beruit policy was his idea and yet a mistake. Did Reagan, or have you, ever mentioned or even considered that during the Reagan Administration more American hostages were held, some longer than 6 years, then were held in Iran. NO HE DID NOT!!! Jimmy Carter like any like raised southern baptist sunday school teacher knows that if you make a mistaked you should be big enough to admit and take responsibility for it. A lesson our current administration has no grasp of.
Peanuts, get your peanuts!
Posted by: Erik at March 23, 2004 09:31 PMI don't recall Ronald Reagan saying anything about a later President's foreign policy decisions, nor do I recall Jimmy Carter taking responsibility for Soviet expansion during his administration.
Posted by: Matt at March 24, 2004 10:23 AMYou may rest assured Matt that the Soviet expansion into Afghanistan has ended.
Posted by: Jerry at March 25, 2004 12:39 PM