[rollo tomasi]

Well there was a power play between Weinberger (Along with his #1 lackey, General Powell, lol, who did not want to ruffle the feathers of Muslims) and Shultz (who wanted to decimate the Muslims) . Reagan decided to go in but use the non-aggressive force that was urged by Weinberger/Powell. These two fools convinced Reagan to go in soft, hence Reagan was ultimately responsible for that idiotic decision.

Reagan was nice but Harding/Coolidge were to tops of limited government Presidents in the 20th Century. If Herbert "The Moderate" Hoover was not such a Statist, the Harding/Coolidge era would have shined even brighter. Goes to show you of how moderates can really screw up a good situation.

[ansel12]

I don’t think that the President of the United States set the policy for the Marines guarding the gates to their own base, to keep the magazines out of their rifles.

Besides, the security of the Marine headquarters should not depend solely on two guys having to insert a magazine before trying to stop a truck coming to blow up the high rise barracks and kill 241 people.