I think Ronald Reagan was a horrible President. He exploded the deficit to pay for his stupid Star Wars Project while at the same time cutting taxes to a point where his unemployment rate was 10.8%. Reagan's policies destroyed American Families by empowering Lobbyists, who collectively bargain for Corporations, while at the same time ending Unions, who collectively bargain for American workers. Reagan's Administration was corrupt and many in his Administration were convicted for illegally selling US Weapons to Iran (Iran/Contra) in exchange for hostages. Some of those Reagan Admin people have been hired by Mitt Romney and are helping to run his campaign.
But, the GOP think Reagan is God - they're crazy - so to the extent that the GOP think Reagan is God: anyone who remembers the April 1983 US Embassy car bombing in Beirut and the October 1983 US Marine Barracks bombing in Beirut would agree, Ronald Reagan would have told Romney surrogate, Jason Chaffetz, and Darrell Issa and to STFU in their rush to politicize the death of 4 Americans in the ambush in Libya.
In Romney's rush to politicize a national security tragedy, Romney's surrogate, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) & Darrell Issa have caused a bigger national security tragedy.
On Friday, Rep. Jason Chaffetz and Rep. Darrell Issa compromised the identities of several Libyans working with the U.S. government and placed their lives in danger when they released reams of State Department communications in a letter they both signed and published on the House.gov website.
In their haste to politicize 4 Americans getting killed in an ambush at the Consulate in Libya, Chaffetz and Issa did not bother to redact the names of Libyan civilians and local leaders mentioned in the cables, thus putting their lives in danger and hampering US Intel in Libya.
The State Department condemned Chaffetz and Issa's negligence and said,
"This does damage to the individuals because they are named, danger to security cooperation because these are militias and groups that we work with and that is now well known, and danger to the investigation, because these people could help us down the road."
Darrell Issa and Romney surrogate Jason Chaffetz said they put the lives of Libyans working with US Intel in danger and wrote:
"The American people deserve nothing less than a full explanation from this administration about these events, including why the repeated warnings about a worsening security situation appear to have been ignored by this administration."
~ Darrell Issa and Romney surrogate Jason Chaffetz letter to President Obama
Now, about the April 1983 US Embassy car bombing in Beirut and the October 1983 US Marine Barracks car bombing in Beirut in which I think Ronald Reagan would have told Jason Chaffetz & Darrell Issa to STFU in their rush to politicize the death of 4 Americans in the ambush in Libya.
April 1983 US Embassy in Beirut Car Bombing:
I recall the April 18, 1983 US Embassy car bombing in Beirut where 63 people where killed.
Americans killed in the 1983 US Embassy in Beirut car bombing:
-CIA's top Middle East analyst and Near East Director, Robert C. Ames,
-CIA Station Chief Kenneth Haas,
-United States Agency for International Development Director William R. McIntyre,
-2 aides to McIntyre,
-6 CIA staff members,
-and several Marine Security Guards.
No witch hunt from Congress commenced in 1983 even though the presidential campaigns had begun. Instead, the next day, April 19, 1983 Congress voted to approve $251 million in additional economic and military aid for Lebanon, as requested by the Reagan Administration.
October 1983 Marine Barracks in Beirut car Bombing
A mere 6 months later, October 23, 1983, the US Marines Barracks in Beirut was attacked by another car bomb and 241 American US Troops were killed representing the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima of World War II.
Again, after 241 Marines were killed in their Barracks in Beirut, no witch hunt from Congress commenced in 1983 even though the threat level in Beirut was clearly up after the April Embassy bombing.
1984 US Embassy in Beirut Car Bomb again (2 months before Pres Election):
The US Embassy in Beirut was moved to East Beirut after the April 18, 1983 US Embassy attack. On September 20, 1984 (less than 2months before the Presidential election) the US Embassy in East Beirut was bombed via a car bomb killing 22 people. No witch hunt from Congress commenced in 1984 even though the elections were coming up.
Do Issa and Romney surrogate Jason Chaffetz think Reagan's foreign policy was a failure because "the repeated warnings about a worsening security situation appear to have been ignored by this [Reagan] administration." pledged to keep a military force in Lebanon.
Reagan never, ever, retaliated for either one of Beirut bombings and no one was ever "brought to justice" for killing all those Americans in Beirut in 1983. Also, after years of investigation the Beirut bombings were thought to have been committed by the Lebanese militant group.
In June 1985, Reagan Administration released a report from the Secretary of State's Advisory Panel on Overseas Security called, The Inman Report, in response to both the April 1983 US Embassy bombing and the 1983 Marine barracks bombing in Beirut, Lebanon.
So, did the Republicans in 1983 wonder why it took Reagan's Admin over 2 years to issue their report? Did the Republicans in 1983 wonder why Reagan didn't beef up security in Beirut so as to prevent the Marine's Barracks from being attacked by a car bomb?
I ask those questions because the Republicans today sure as hell want people to think President Obama's Administration should have issued a report the next fucking day and certainly by now.
The current House Republicans clearly fail History ... and I do think Ronald Reagan would have told Issa and Romney's surrogate, Jason Chaffetz to STFU in their rush to politicize the death of 4 Americans in the ambush in Libya.
Romney surrogate, Jason Chaffetz cares so little about national security the he and Darrell Issa put the lives of Libyans working with US Intel in danger and thwarted national security missions they were working on.
Additionally Jason Chaffetz and Darrell Issa, both voted to cut the amount of funding requested by President Obama -- funding that was to pay for an increase in security at Embassies and Consulates around the world -- argue that yes they did vote to cut the funding for increased security -- but -- funding was not cut as low as they wanted the funds to be cut so they should not be criticized for wanting to cut the funding request President Obama asked for.
Why? Why did the GOP in Congress vote to cut the amount of funding President Obama asked for to increase security at our Embassies? Could the answer lie in Robert Draper's book where he outlines that on January 20, 2009 Rep. Paul Ryan and 11 other GOP Congressmen plotted to sabotage America so as to make Obama a 1-term President?