re: #52 GeneJockey

the guy who cut and ran from Beirut after 241 Marines were killed…

Reagan’s first move against ISIS? Send in Ollie North to sell them guns.

Cut and ran? Funny how that decision was applauded in so many quarters.

Yet, just three days later, on Feb. 7, Reagan ordered the Marines to “redeploy” to their ships offshore — which was actually a full withdrawal achieved in three weeks. Although the Marine’s mission in Lebanon was not clearly defined and, subsequently, not achieved, Reagan’s tacit admission of failure and withdrawal of the Marines from Lebanon limited America’s further involvement in foreign-policy disaster — saving money, lives, and time. Many pundits later claimed wrongly that Reagan was erroneous, because Osama bin Laden contended that the withdrawal was a sign of U.S. weakness; as if America’s strategic choices should be held hostage to how terrorists choose to describe them.

Withdrawing from undefined and untenable missions is usually considered wise, apparently for all except Reagan.