“Reagan was responsible for essentially ‘giving’ Lebanon to Syria and leaving Israel to deal with the mess.”
You cannot protect yourself without a loaded weapon. Beirut was totally preventable. A Marine with a loaded weapon would have taken the bombers out before they reached the embassy.
While it doesn’t absolve Reagan from pulling out, it does absolve him from continuing to keep unarmed marines in harms way.
I know. And you are correct.
That was a very weird time in the American military. The entire military was suffering PTSD from Viet Nam.
I myself was ordered on patrol with an unloaded weapon. We had loaded mags but kept them on our belts.
This was a time when wacko Leftists controlled the military. They wanted to project strength but were scared to death that we might actually shoot somebody.
So, yeah. It was a strange era and Ronnie did what he thought was right under the circumstances.