The Coalition of the Swilling

Just my two cents: I think that as far as the Middle East went, the Reagan Administration decided that the goal was first and foremost to keep the Persian Gulf open for oil shipments and ensure Israel's survival. This was in line with the primary goal of defeating Communism, as a strong economy was a critical requirement to do so. The last thing we needed was another severe oil shock in the early or mid-1980s.

That and the State Department then had more people without gonads than we do even now. Oh, and one last thing. I went into the Army in 1983. I saw just a few small parts of it really, but I can say that the difference in those parts 6 years later, when my enlistment was up, was dramatic. The military that took on Iraq in 1991 was being built in the early and mid-1980s. I could be wrong, but I dont think there's any way we could have "Desert Stormed" anyone back then.

Although I didn't agree, it is reasonable to limit our enemies to one major set at a time. The muslims were fighting the soviets in Afghanistan and were a major part of defeating them world wide. If the soviets weren't burdened with fighting them, they may have taken a lot longer to collapse.

The only real problem was the extraordinary long delay we had in deciding to fight the muslims. They had declared war on us numerous times but Bush I and Clinton never took them seriously. That was where the fault lies, not with Reagan.

Reagan wasn't perfect, but this was not necessarily a bad call. I would rather have taken them all on, but then I'm not the president, either. I don't think many people would vote for my solutions to these problems.

Would've, should've, could've.

"That and the State Department then had more people without gonads than we do even now. Oh, and one last thing. I went into the Army in 1983. I saw just a few small parts of it really, but I can say that the difference in those parts 6 years later, when my enlistment was up, was dramatic. The military that took on Iraq in 1991 was being built in the early and mid-1980s. I could be wrong, but I dont think there's any way we could have "Desert Stormed" anyone back then."

You are spot on. Thanks for paving the road for me, BTW.

Um. Well, there's one more thing. We were happy to have the Iraqis and the Iranians killing one another in large numbers in those days, figuring that it would prevent either one from emerging as the dominant power in the region. That was part and parcel of realpolitik as perceived at the time, and it also prevented either one from becoming a Soviet client along the lines of Syria.

I don't think Reagan was naive about Muslim world. Clearly they were a problem. But the Soviet empire was a bigger problem, and need to be dealt with first.

A tough call, but not a bad one.

Not only was it convenient that Iraq invaded Iran, but the US supplied arms and/or parts to both sides at different times during the conflict. The US wasn't alone in this respect as many other countries also supplied weapons. Because of the larger problems of ending the cold war, the Iran problems could be put on the back burner as long as the Iran-Iraq war was ongoing. US foreign policymakers took a risk (much like dealing with Stalin in WWII) in hoping the Middle East problems would just go away or burn themselves out. The naivety was thinking that the Muslim world wouldn't hold a grudge against the US.