Posted on 10/15/2009 5:52:13 PM PDT by broken_arrow1
When Ronald Reagan called the Soviet Union an "evil empire" in 1983, he was articulating in the boldest terms what had always been an American understanding. The Kremlin had long been fomenting communist revolution the world over, and we had long pursued our policy of "containment."
Thus did we fight wars in Korea and Vietnam, facilitate coups d'état against people such as Salvador Allende and support anti-communist rebels such as the mujahedeen in Afghanistan. Of course, plans didn't always come together. There was the Bay of Pigs debacle, and the covert Iran-Contra operation getting front-page exposure. The "police action" in Korea ended in a stalemate and Vietnam just became stale, losing the public and political support necessary for victory.
Many also questioned the wisdom and even the legality of some of these foreign interventions, and other people, often for ignoble reasons, refused to wrap their minds around the fact that there is such a thing as the lesser of two evils and that it is virtually always the anti-communist option. As for any mistakes or moral lapses -- which ever plague endeavors of mortal design -- for now I'll just steal a concept from Otto von Bismarck and say that sometimes foreign policy is like sausage, in that it may look good when it's served, but you wouldn't want to be there when it's made. Other times, though, viewing it in its totality is like being presented with whole octopus. The only way it can be stomached is if you keep your eyes closed.
But although the dishes did vary, American presidents had always served the same cuisine. John Kennedy didn't flinch during the Cuban missile crisis, and, although he stumbled dreadfully, at least could contemplate a Bay of Pigs.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X_nnGuOdKA
I remember back in 1983, I was 17 and a junior in high school. This was soon after KAL-007 happened and I just got my driver’s license and had my own car. As a thought experiment, I asked at that time, “what if in the future, the US became the USSR and the USSR became the US?” I know Russia ain’t perfectly free but they are a lot freer now than they ever have been and in some ways, they are freer than us, especially economically. Back then, it was just up for discussion but it seems I might get the answer to my question. I think I mentioned this a while back on here and another Freeper said, “I asked the same question as you, around the time the Soviets launched Sputnik.”
Honestly.....I feel as tho I’m living in a Star Wars movie. ‘The Republic’ vs ‘The Empire’. Srsly.
I’ll check out the link. Thanks! :)
“what’s so tragic is that supporting the interim government of Roberto Micheletti likely would have diffused the situation and yielded long-term stability.”
Now why would Rahm Emmanuel or Barak Obama want to waste a crisis by accept long-term stability?
“Zelaya is precisely the man the Soviet Union — that evil empire — would have sided with.”
Nonsense! If this were an Evil Empire, we would have an evil emperor instead of a president. Right?
Hey! wait a minute..... Is this American Thinker dude trying to mess with my head?
He most certainly did. He very quietly had little brother Bobby cut a deal. Russian missile in Cuba removed in exchange for the US removing its missiles from Turkey. Not a bad deal since we didn't really need the missiles in Turkey to the same extent that the Russians needed missiles in Cuba, but it wasn't exactly a 5-star victory.
BTTT
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