NationStates Jolt Archive

The Reagan Years:

Central America and the Iran-Contra Scandal
The 8 years Reagan was in office represented one of the most bloody eras in the history of the Western hemisphere, as Washington funneled money, weapons and other supplies to right wing death squads. And the death toll was staggering - more than 70,000 political killings in El Salvador, more than 100,000 in Guatemala, 30,000 killed in the contra war in Nicaragua. In Washington, the forces carrying out the violence were called "freedom fighters." Reagan described the Contras in Nicaragua as, "our brothers, these freedom fighters and we owe them our help. They are the moral equal of our founding fathers."

The Middle East
The policies of the Reagan administration in the Middle East, specifically during the Iran-Iraq war, fueled one of the bloodiest conflicts in modern times in which more than a million people were killed. Chemical weapons were used and two of the most ancient societies on earth were devastated. During Reagan's years in power, the U.S.armed Iran and normalized relations with Iraq, selling weapons to both sides of the conflict.

Afghanistan and the Roots of 9/11
During Reagan's 8 years in power, the CIA secretly sent billions of dollars of military aid to Afghanistan to support the mujahedeen - or holy warriors - against the Soviet Union, which had invaded in 1979. The U.S.-supported jihad succeeded in driving out the Soviets but the Afghan factions allied to the US gave rise to the oppressive Taliban and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda.

The U.S. Invasion of Grenada
On October 25, 1983, the United States invaded the small Caribbean nation of Grenada. The fiery leftist President Maurice Bishop had been assassinated days earlier. When U.S. forces moved in they landed at the airport, and killed more than a dozen Cubans and more than 40 Grenadian soldiers. The U.S. quickly consolidated its occupation of the island and expanded its force to more than 7,000. By December a pro-American government was established.

South Africa
The dominant view is that the US was on the right side in South Africa, that it opposed apartheid. But nothing could be further from the truth, particularly when Reagan was president. Reagan labeled Mandela's African National Congress a notorious terrorist organization, while continuing Washington's support for the apartheid regime.

AIDS
Following the discovery of the first cases of AIDS in 1981, it soon became clear a national health crisis was developing. Scientists, researchers and health care professionals at every level expressed the need for funding but the Reagan White House remained silent on the subject for years while thousands of Americans were dying from the disease.

Race
After taking office in 1981, Reagan began a sustained attack on the government's civil rights apparatus, opened an assault on affirmative action and social welfare programs, embraced the White racist leaders of then-apartheid South Africa and waged war on the tiny, Black Caribbean nation of Grenada.

Homelessness
Under Reagan, the number of homeless people went from something so little it wasn't even written about widely in the late 1970s to more than 2 million when Reagan left office. Homeless rights activists say the single most devastating thing Reagan did to create homelessness was when he cut the budget for the Department of Housing and Urban Development and overhaul tax codes to reduce incentives for private developers and low-income homes creating a major crisis for low-income families and individuals.

Class and Organized Labor
Many critics view Reagan's administration as one of the worst in history for organized labor. After a prohibited strike by the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization, Reagan fired more than eleven thousand air traffic controllers, jailed strike leaders and ultimately abolished the union, paving the way for a crackdown on organized labor.

Read more: http://www.democracynow.org/static/flashback.shtml

Much as I like and respect Reagan, I can't help feeling that he got out of jail regarding Iran-Contra in a way that Nixon did not regarding Watergate.

bump

Wow, the left just can't get enough of dancing on his grave, can you? At least he didn't rent out the Lincoln bedroom and turn the Oval Office into a whorehouse.

Wow, the left just can't get enough of dancing on his grave, can you? At least he didn't rent out the Lincoln bedroom and turn the Oval Office into a whorehouse.

you can't deny the facts...

You know, we've already had pretty much this exact same spam 5 times.

Couldn't you find a thread that already had stuff like this in it, where this had already been debated and talked about to death, to post this in?

Many excellent points. Just because the guy's croaked, doesn't mean we should forget.

Spam....

as if we've never seen this before


maybe your missing the message if I can look at all this and still have respect for him. I would think so, considering your apparent tone.

The Reagan Years:

Central America and the Iran-Contra Scandal
The 8 years Reagan was in office represented one of the most bloody eras in the history of the Western hemisphere, as Washington funneled money, weapons and other supplies to right wing death squads. And the death toll was staggering - more than 70,000 political killings in El Salvador, more than 100,000 in Guatemala, 30,000 killed in the contra war in Nicaragua. In Washington, the forces carrying out the violence were called "freedom fighters." Reagan described the Contras in Nicaragua as, "our brothers, these freedom fighters and we owe them our help. They are the moral equal of our founding fathers."


Meanwhile, during the same period, John Kerry, Mike Dukakis, Tip O'neil, and the assembled friends of Jane Fonda and the Weather Underground, were raising money and support for Castro's Cuba and Ortega's Sandinista Regime-often on U.S. Government, State, and municipal properties.
The fact that the Sandinistas were Castro-Stalin Communists with an active Secret Police and their own, highly-efficient Death Squad apparati is, apparently, not an issue compared to Reagan's support of their opposition, is it?



The Middle East
The policies of the Reagan administration in the Middle East, specifically during the Iran-Iraq war, fueled one of the bloodiest conflicts in modern times in which more than a million people were killed. Chemical weapons were used and two of the most ancient societies on earth were devastated. During Reagan's years in power, the U.S.armed Iran and normalized relations with Iraq, selling weapons to both sides of the conflict.


Hmmm... and while they were doing that, they weren't threatening anyone else. Besides, the Iranian regime of the Ayatollah Khomenei found it convenient to take over a hundered American citizens (including diplomatic personnel) Hostage, and subject them to Abuse, for over a year, and we didn't do to them what we might have. INstead, we helped them to kill one another and destroy their economy.



Afghanistan and the Roots of 9/11
During Reagan's 8 years in power, the CIA secretly sent billions of dollars of military aid to Afghanistan to support the mujahedeen - or holy warriors - against the Soviet Union, which had invaded in 1979. The U.S.-supported jihad succeeded in driving out the Soviets but the Afghan factions allied to the US gave rise to the oppressive Taliban and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda.


It also helped bring down the Soviet Empire-as their investment in Afghan "Revolution" cost them greater and greater sums of money and blood, for diminishing returns. The other choice, would have been a Communist-aligned regime just as oppressive but with different uniforms and slogans, threatening the oil supplies of (at that time) most of Western Europe.


The U.S. Invasion of Grenada
On October 25, 1983, the United States invaded the small Caribbean nation of Grenada. The fiery leftist President Maurice Bishop had been assassinated days earlier. When U.S. forces moved in they landed at the airport, and killed more than a dozen Cubans and more than 40 Grenadian soldiers. The U.S. quickly consolidated its occupation of the island and expanded its force to more than 7,000. By December a pro-American government was established.


And Castro's dreams of bringing the Revolucion' to the rest of the Caribbean and Central America was crushed. (also, the Soviets were denied a strategic base, yet again, in the Western Hemisphere.)


South Africa
The dominant view is that the US was on the right side in South Africa, that it opposed apartheid. But nothing could be further from the truth, particularly when Reagan was president. Reagan labeled Mandela's African National Congress a notorious terrorist organization, while continuing Washington's support for the apartheid regime.


Are you familiar with the term: "Necklacing"? Winnie Mandela (who ran the ANC while N. Mandela was in jail) approved and made use of it. It involves a tyre, soaked in diesel, thrown over someone's head, then lit on fire.
This wasn't done to members of the White Government or their supporters, this was done to other Black Africans, often for offending the leadership of the ANC.
While Mr. Mandela put a stop to it (mostly) when he got out, it was a pretty frequent practice. If that's NOT terrorism, what is it?
(won't go into car-bombs, Nail-bombs, incitement to riot...)
The ANC's "Platform" was, prior to the Soweto Agreement, virtually word-for-word (with Ethnic and Racial specifics added) what the ComIntern had been shipping into the third world for the better part of forty years in the eighties, up to and including incitement to "violent Revolution" and Class Warfare.



AIDS
Following the discovery of the first cases of AIDS in 1981, it soon became clear a national health crisis was developing. Scientists, researchers and health care professionals at every level expressed the need for funding but the Reagan White House remained silent on the subject for years while thousands of Americans were dying from the disease.


Considering that the disease was brought in and initially spread through sex-parties in the "Swinging" community of the 1970's (Same fun folks that brought us high-level outbreaks of Hepatitus "C", Genital Herpes, Cocaine Addiction, and the Divorce Culture), that most of the victims didn't want to admit they had it, and that it only gained prominence when several batches of bad (infected) blood hit the Haemophiliac community (people who didn't, for the most part, partake in the fun, but got to share the cost...) not a lot was known, except that needle-sharing, and unprotected sex spreads it. The problem in Africa is, apparently, about as recent, but both problems started with people having sex with monkeys, then screwing anything with two legs.
C. Everett Koop (U.S. Surgeon General at the time) repeatedly made public warnings about the danger-behaviours that were spreading the disease in the U.S. and the Administration made the NIH go through millions of gallons of the red stuff in our system looking for the HIV virus.
Most of what we know now, was found out during the Reagan Administration-but had the Administration taken steps to quarantine and contain the pandemic in the manner proven most effective, it would be charges of "Civil Rights Violations" and possibly "Death Camps", rather than "Silence." AIDS is caused by a Virus, one that has a quality that "Shifts" the Antigen, making a Vaccine nearly impossible to formulate, while (Unlike Bacteria) anything that you might take to kill it, will probably kill YOU.
There are no "Cures" for Viral illnesses (and believe it, they've been looking since Medicine stopped being Phlebotomy with leeches), you either survive them and develop immunity, or you don't.



Race
After taking office in 1981, Reagan began a sustained attack on the government's civil rights apparatus, opened an assault on affirmative action and social welfare programs, embraced the White racist leaders of then-apartheid South Africa and waged war on the tiny, Black Caribbean nation of Grenada.


An embrace that got Nelson Mandela out of jail, and kept White Hispanic Cuba from dominating Grenada's future in the model of White Soviet Russia. Under Reagan, the Racist regime in S. Africa fell, and its crimes were revealed to the world. Affirmitive Action programmes are still (Some sixteen years after Reagan left office) in place, Social Welfare programmes are still sucking up 20-some-odd percent of the United States Gross National Product, (at most, he slowed the rate of increase), and the gaping hole in Social Security (that had been growing since LBJ opened it up to junkies and baby-factories) was finally revealed to the public.



Homelessness
Under Reagan, the number of homeless people went from something so little it wasn't even written about widely in the late 1970s to more than 2 million when Reagan left office. Homeless rights activists say the single most devastating thing Reagan did to create homelessness was when he cut the budget for the Department of Housing and Urban Development and overhaul tax codes to reduce incentives for private developers and low-income homes creating a major crisis for low-income families and individuals.


It got "Noticed" under Reagan, it was a problem before him, (going back many, many, decades) Reportage increased on the issue, but HUD's been dirty since the Johnsons were in the white house-some of the most egregious abuses included Love Canal (built in the seventies with HUD money, on a site they knew was contaminated), HUD funding for "Low Income" housing that was less than 20% low income, Cabrini Green in Chicago (a high-rise war-zone controlled by Street gangs where the cops don't go in less than groups of twelve), Five Points in Detroit, and other, fine examples of government do-gooding. Rent Control in New York means the small percentage of residential that isn't directly under the Housing Authority costs big, and the landlords can get away with non-maintenance and overcrowding, since it's cheaper to build commercial than residential there, and has been since the mid-sixties.
Further, the '80s were the end of the "Romantic" Hippie-Lifestyle, being a Vagabond stopped being a way to pick up chicks.




Class and Organized Labor
Many critics view Reagan's administration as one of the worst in history for organized labor. After a prohibited strike by the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization, Reagan fired more than eleven thousand air traffic controllers, jailed strike leaders and ultimately abolished the union, paving the way for a crackdown on organized labor.

Read more: http://www.democracynow.org/static/flashback.shtml

The PATCO strike threatened an already weak U.S. economy-the Carter Years showed us double-digit Inflation and double-digit Interest, a second fuel crisis, and the beginning of the end of auto and steel manufacturing in the U.S. The Layoffs in the '80s were a direct outgrowth of what happened between Johnson/Nixon and the end of Carter (1963-1981), in 1972, Nixon signed (and a Democratic Congress Ratified) the first GATT, which (among other things) promises U.S. funds to Corporations to move manufacturing overseas.
For manufacturing workers in Union Shops, this was when your job started to leave the country, not under Reagan.
The PATCO strike threatened the safety of airline passengers, aircrews, and the remaining economic health of the nation, by paralyzing a whole infrastructural network and the Union's refusal to negotiate in good faith.
It's funny, but how would you feel, if the Police went on strike? Or the Fire Department? Air-Traffic-Control is an infrastructural Service, it's not like secretaries or even manufacturing work. When the ATC network goes down, either things don't fly (anywhere) or people die.

Many excellent points. Just because the guy's croaked, doesn't mean we should forget.
but it does mean we should spit on his face rather than pay our respects, doesn't it TG?

Much as I like and respect Reagan, I can't help feeling that he got out of jail regarding Iran-Contra in a way that Nixon did not regarding Watergate.
Probably the reason was because many politicians thought of Iran-Contra as useful to defeating the Soviet Union. I myself find it effective, though extremely dirty. Anyhow, it didn't seem to really affect anyone's career. Poindexter is still around, Ollie North is now a Colonel, and obviously, it barely scratched Reagan.

Many excellent points. Just because the guy's croaked, doesn't mean we should forget.
but it does mean we should spit on his face rather than pay our respects, doesn't it TG?
One man's examination of history is another man's desecration of a grave. I accept the difference in perception.

Let's not forget, as well, that though Reagan's policies on social equality were...questionable at best, he was the president during the most intense time of negotiation in the tenure of the Soviet Union. I'm sure a charismatic fellow like Walter Mondale could have handled it just as well...Just remember, before you think that shortly after his demise is the best time to point out his flaws, perhaps it's more fitting to observe his successes. Get past partisaned biases...get back to criticizing him when it's not such a sensitive subject. Lenny Bruce was jailed for making fun of JFK's dame right after his death, just to give you an idea of how badly you can offend someone shortly after a death. Please, get in your kicks at a geriatric a while after his death.

The problem in Africa is, apparently, about as recent, but both problems started with people having sex with monkeys, then screwing anything with two legs.

Actually HIV is generally believed to of first been spread to bushmeat hunters from monkeys infected with SIDS (Simian Immuno-Deficency Syndrom). Not from monkey-fuckers.

Many excellent points. Just because the guy's croaked, doesn't mean we should forget.
but it does mean we should spit on his face rather than pay our respects, doesn't it TG?
One man's examination of history is another man's desecration of a grave. I accept the difference in perception.
you didn't answer my question directly.

Many excellent points. Just because the guy's croaked, doesn't mean we should forget.
but it does mean we should spit on his face rather than pay our respects, doesn't it TG?
One man's examination of history is another man's desecration of a grave. I accept the difference in perception.
you didn't answer my question directly.
Few things in life provide direct answers.

Many excellent points. Just because the guy's croaked, doesn't mean we should forget.
but it does mean we should spit on his face rather than pay our respects, doesn't it TG?
One man's examination of history is another man's desecration of a grave. I accept the difference in perception.
you didn't answer my question directly.
Few things in life provide direct answers.
I'll take that as a yes, you do think so.

*Shrugs*

Meh

*Shrugs*

Meh
heheh....I'll come up with my own conclusions on that...although I was hoping you'd respond better to that.

Many excellent points. Just because the guy's croaked, doesn't mean we should forget.
but it does mean we should spit on his face rather than pay our respects, doesn't it TG?
One man's examination of history is another man's desecration of a grave. I accept the difference in perception.
you didn't answer my question directly.

Any perons's death provides an opportunity to examine their actions in life.

To do this is a balanced an unbiased manner is obviously preferable.

Death neither enhances nor diminshes, just finalises.

I notice just a half-hearted attempt to argue against Kowloon's points (and let's face it, whether you eat a monkey or you have your way with it, it's still pretty gross to think about.)

I guess the libs don't have much of an answer.

Wow, the left just can't get enough of dancing on his grave, can you? At least he didn't rent out the Lincoln bedroom and turn the Oval Office into a whorehouse.

Yeah, 'cause that would be... uhm... VERY bad? ^_^

Wow, the left just can't get enough of dancing on his grave, can you? At least he didn't rent out the Lincoln bedroom and turn the Oval Office into a whorehouse.
oh yes it is SOOOO Much worse to make money by letting contributors sleep in the whitehouse than it is to SELL ARMS TO OUR ENEMIES

ohhhh yeah WAY worse to get a bj from an aide than to create 2million homeless people
those were the good old days alright

To some conservatives, sex is a greater, more shameful evil than murder. Interestingly, this is also an argument I have seen made regarding Islamic fundamentalists.

The Middle East
The policies of the Reagan administration in the Middle East, specifically during the Iran-Iraq war, fueled one of the bloodiest conflicts in modern times in which more than a million people were killed. Chemical weapons were used and two of the most ancient societies on earth were devastated. During Reagan's years in power, the U.S.armed Iran and normalized relations with Iraq, selling weapons to both sides of the conflict.


Hmmm... and while they were doing that, they weren't threatening anyone else. Besides, the Iranian regime of the Ayatollah Khomenei found it convenient to take over a hundered American citizens (including diplomatic personnel) Hostage, and subject them to Abuse, for over a year, and we didn't do to them what we might have. INstead, we helped them to kill one another and destroy their economy.


Yes... instead of sending in a strikeforce to free the hostages and only having to kill the people who were holding the hostages, like Carter tried to do, RR made a backdoor deal known as the "October Surprise" that got the hostages freed and opened the door to years of secret arms sales to Iran, which along with our open support of Iraq managed to get ~1,000,000 people killed, innocent as well as guilty, and set Mr. Hussain up in the WoD business that "justified" our invasion of Iraq. Does anybody... CAN anybody wonder why the Iraqis aren't totally enthused by our deep concern for freeing them from Hussain's tyranny?



The Reagan Years:

Central America and the Iran-Contra Scandal
The 8 years Reagan was in office represented one of the most bloody eras in the history of the Western hemisphere, as Washington funneled money, weapons and other supplies to right wing death squads. And the death toll was staggering - more than 70,000 political killings in El Salvador, more than 100,000 in Guatemala, 30,000 killed in the contra war in Nicaragua. In Washington, the forces carrying out the violence were called "freedom fighters." Reagan described the Contras in Nicaragua as, "our brothers, these freedom fighters and we owe them our help. They are the moral equal of our founding fathers."


Meanwhile, during the same period, John Kerry, Mike Dukakis, Tip O'neil, and the assembled friends of Jane Fonda and the Weather Underground, were raising money and support for Castro's Cuba and Ortega's Sandinista Regime-often on U.S. Government, State, and municipal properties.
The fact that the Sandinistas were Castro-Stalin Communists with an active Secret Police and their own, highly-efficient Death Squad apparati is, apparently, not an issue compared to Reagan's support of their opposition, is it?



The Sandanistas jumped into bed with the Soviet block as a response to our support of the counterrevoltionary terrorists that Reagan called "freedom fighters". The revolution actually split, and another group of anti-Marxist revolutionaries under the leadership of Commandante Zero sought to continue the revolution that they saw as having been betrayed... until the C.I.A. tried to blow him up. After that the formerly facistic "goo" contras continued theur reign of terrorism until the Sandanistas finally lost too much of the popular support that had kept them in power. Not content with mere democracy the U.S. administration successfully pressured the new Nicaraguan government into passing laws to forbid former Sandanistas from ever holding government jobs or elected positions.



Ronald Reagan is dead and I feel for those who loved him, but a little less for those who loved the myth that he was a champion of freedom and democracy. He was a criminal, ten times worse than Nixon for covering up a B&E and for bombing VC positions in Cambodia, 100 times worse than Clintin for sleeping around and letting supporters and lobbyists spend the night. Why do "the left" or "the people who were paying attention during the 80s" keep talking about it? Because we keep hearing from sheep who think that this traitor was actually our greatest president.



- Rev. A.J. Harris

Yeah I F-ed up the quote script. Sorry... try to read around it please :)

To some conservatives, sex is a greater, more shameful evil than murder. Interestingly, this is also an argument I have seen made regarding Islamic fundamentalists.
And why is that? Sex is partially the reason behind rape, incest, murder, even wars. It really can be an evil thing if treated improperly, and that's why any observer would have to agree that extramartial sex is not only immoral, it's dangerous.

But you see, religion is also a risk and no wonder why some people don't want it -- it's been the source of wars, death, etc.

you get what Im saying?

many things are threats but we shouldn't just outlaw them and brand them as "t3h evil!"

do YOU think that extramarital sex is worse than selling arms to our enemies, PE? i mean really
not that id let clinton be alone in a room with my 27 year old neice......

do YOU think that extramarital sex is worse than selling arms to our enemies, PE? i mean really
not that id let clinton be alone in a room with my 27 year old neice......
Yes, because if our enemies have extramartial sex, it'll inspire them to be warlike. If we have extramartial sex, well unfortunately, we all know the answer. Sex crimes are through the roof, STDs are prolific, and divorce rates have spiked.

Some people here might be to young to remember but the world was once poised on the brink of destruction. The world used to be divided in two with each side pointing nukes at each other. Reagan put a stop to that by ending the cold war and bringing down the USSR, which was an EVIL empire bent on world domination. I don't think it's hubris to say that Reagan saved the world and I would certanly call him a hero and a great man for that.

Some people here might be to young to remember but the world was once poised on the brink of destruction. The world used to be divided in two with each side pointing nukes at each other. Reagan put a stop to that by ending the cold war and bringing down the USSR, which was an EVIL empire bent on world domination. I don't think it's hubris to say that Reagan saved the world and I would certanly call him a hero and a great man for that.

The USSR was no more evil than the USA.

(I don't like either side btw)

can't we stop with the reagan threads already?
they are getting quite redundant, and absolutely zero ground is ever made.

can't we stop with the reagan threads already?
they are getting quite redundant, and absolutely zero ground is ever made.

Agreed. And anti-French threads need to go as well.

can't we stop with the reagan threads already?
they are getting quite redundant, and absolutely zero ground is ever made.

Agreed. And anti-French threads need to go as well.

Yes, agreed with that too. And for that matter, a good number of topics on this forum.
No one ever changes their minds, people just get mad, and its just redundant.

Yes, because if our enemies have extramartial sex, it'll inspire them to be warlike. If we have extramartial sex, well unfortunately, we all know the answer. Sex crimes are through the roof, STDs are prolific, and divorce rates have spiked.

im gonna take you at your word and not think you are just saying that

not that im in favor of extramarital sex, what with being married and all, but it has existed since, well, since marriage. i dont see that it has anything to do with violent warlike tendencies. although it DOES influence the std rate. i see EMS as a character flaw that is between the person and his/her spouse. its never a GOOD thing but it doesnt matter to ME what other people do. i would however consider it a big factor in my assessment of that persons character.

to sell arms to our enemies however ... well thats just not doing your job right and means to me that you (reagan) should lose that job. reagan may have had a better character than clinton, but he was the one who needed to be impeached

Sex is partially the reason behind rape, incest, murder, even wars.
Sex is good...and no...you dont become blind if you masturbate...

Euclid...dude...you got to stop beleiveng everything you cleric says.

Sex is partially the reason behind rape, incest, murder, even wars.
Sex is good...and no...you dont become blind if you masturbate...

Euclid...dude...you got to stop beleiveng everything you cleric says.Euclid is the reincarnation of Cotton Mather

Sex is partially the reason behind rape, incest, murder, even wars.

Dude, have you ever had sex, a lack of sex causes those things. An abundance of sex calms people and makes them happier, you can't blame the actions of a minority on sex.

Hmmm... and while they were doing that, they weren't threatening anyone else. Besides, the Iranian regime of the Ayatollah Khomenei found it convenient to take over a hundered American citizens (including diplomatic personnel) Hostage, and subject them to Abuse, for over a year, and we didn't do to them what we might have. INstead, we helped them to kill one another and destroy their economy.

Yes, and those hostages were released the very same day that Reagan took office, despite the heat that President Carter took from it.

coincidence?

I think not.

Charisma my ass. Good bye and good fucking riddance, prune face.

Reagan's Legacy
by Dennis Hans
June 10, 2004

It is typical of Americans, unlike other peoples, to not truly appreciate someone until he or she passes away. Surely this is the case with our 40th president, Ronald Wilson Reagan.

True, long before he died his name was affixed to a California license plate, an aircraft carrier and a federal building. But all that amounts to small potatoes compared to the honors bestowed years earlier from a host of grateful nations and peoples. As we consider additional tributes to Mr. Reagan, let us recall some of the creative honors dreamed up by our international friends so that they'd never forget the man and his values.

* Afghanistan. "Ronnie Poppy." This opium flower honors President Reagan's contribution to the explosive growth of the Afghan heroin industry in the 1980s through his unconditional support for the most extreme Islamic fundamentalists who were justifiably opposed to the murderous Soviet occupation. When not battling the Red Army or rival guerrillas, or terrorizing civilians and shooting down non-military passenger planes, Reagan's favored fundamentalists cultivated opium, converted it into smack and supplied three-fourths of the junkies of Europe and one-third of the junkies of America. A tip of the Islamist hat to Ronnie for averting his eyes as the horse trade boomed and for refusing to use his considerable leverage to promote moderation or a negotiated settlement with an all-too-willing Mikhail Gorbachev. No need to dwell on the postscript: additional hundreds of thousands of Afghan deaths, followed by postwar chaos and the emergence of a government so atrocious that Afghans welcomed the Taliban as liberators. The Taliban, in turn, rolled out the red carpet for Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, who . . . Well, you know the rest of the story.

* Angola. "The Gipper Stump." This polished-oak peg leg features a heart-felt message from the Cold War commander-in-chief, who worked with the South African apartheid state to keep Jonas Savimbi and his UNITA terrorists armed and dangerous, thus keeping the Angolan market for artificial limbs - not to mention graveyards - booming. "Thanks for taking one for the Gipper," the inscription reads. "My best to you and any remaining appendages. -Love, Ronnie." * Argentina. "The Reagan Islands." Technically, the former Falkland/Malvinas Islands are no longer the property of Argentina, but Argentinians voted for the new name to honor Ronnie's role in the restoration of civilian rule in their country. His enthusiastic support for the torture-prone, anti-Semitic generals - magical men who had the ability to make dissidents and their relatives "disappear" - persuaded the high command that Reagan would take their side if they seized the disputed islands. They were wrong, and Margaret Thatcher's counterattack so devastated and humiliated the generals that they handed the government back to civilians.

* Cambodia. "Reagan Skull Bag." This handy Khmer Rouge carrying sack holds up to 25 skulls. The Skull Bag recognizes the Reagan administration's unstinting support for Pol Pot's assaults on Cambodians from 1981 to 1989, as well as Reagan's policy of recognizing the exiled Khmer Rouge at the U.N. as the legitimate government of Cambodia.

* Costa Rica. "El Rancho Reagan." The former "front farm" of a CIA and contra collaborator, El Rancho Reagan is preserved in its mid-1980s pristine prime. Contra killers lounge in the backyard, the safe overflows with cash to bribe Costa Rican officials to ignore violations of their nation's neutrality, and kilos of coke are on hand for transhipment.

* El Salvador. "The Reagan Missionary Position." No, not a sexual position for raping American churchwomen (for that would be in poor taste), but a position as in a stand. The Reagan Missionary Position, formulated by high officials Al Haig and Jeane Kirkpatrick, is that the three nuns and one layworker were pro-Marxist "political activists" and thus hardly innocent. Besides, their deaths were accidents, not planned executions. Haig explained that the churchwomen ran or were perceived to have run a "roadblock" and may have gotten caught in a guerrilla-National Guard "exchange of fire." Were they also raped in the crossfire? The Reagan Missionary Position's lips say no, but his eyes say yes.

* Guatemala. "The Reagan 'Bum Rap' Rap." Grandmaster Ronnie first laid down this rap in 1982 to discredit reports by Amnesty International and others of the army's slaughter of thousands of Indian villagers in the first months of General Efrain Rios Montt's rule. Ronnie rapped that Rios Montt (an evangelical minister nicknamed the "born-again butcher") was getting a "bum rap." The beauty of the bum-rap rap is that it bolsters "military impunity," regarded by Reagan as a cornerstone of client-state pseudo-democracy.

* Honduras. "Reagan's Rascals." The crazy cut-ups of Battalion 316 comprised a secret unit of CIA-backed torturers and murderers. They rid Honduras of real and imagined subversives and dissidents, assisted Reagan's beloved contras and ensured the continued rule of corrupt army thugs behind a civilian facade -- another cornerstone of client-state pseudo-democracy.

* Haiti. "Ronnie Doc." Duvalier loyalists awarded Reagan the highest degree a Haitian can steal, the Doctor of Kleptocracy. Papa Doc and Baby Doc earned theirs the hard way, while Reagan's honorary title states, "Long after the spineless State Department distanced itself from the sinking Duvalier ship, you stood steadfast. Unlike the ignorant Haitian masses, you never condemned Baby Doc's stylish extravagance."

* Kurdistan. "Reagan Red Hot." Nothing's more appetizing than human skin drenched with mustard, or for that matter, mustard gas, which is what a "Reagan Red Hot" hot dog is. (Great at a ballgame with jelly beans and beer.) Iraqi Kurds thank the Gipper from the surface of their seared hearts for his devotion to Saddam as he squirted them with mustard gas and other lethal condiments.

* Laos. "Ronnie Rain." In the mountains of Laos, April showers dump bee feces on flowers. Ronnie Rain salutes the 1982 White House "Yellow Rain" disinformation campaign - spread by the demented Wall Street Journal editorial board and many seemingly sane mainstream journalists - that portrayed the annual bee barrage as a genocidal commie chemical-weapons assault.

* Lebanon. "The Reagan Wink." It's as good as a nod. Go into the home of any member of the Lebanese Phalange militia and you'll see a glossy photo of the handsome Gipper closing his right eye. In 1982, Reagan engineered the withdrawal of PLO soldiers from Beirut by guaranteeing the safety of Palestinian civilians left behind. As soon as the PLO pulled out, Reagan withdrew the U.S. peace-keeping force. The Israeli military then opened the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps to the Phalange militia, who were bitter enemies of the PLO and not inclined to treat kindly any real or imagined PLO sympathizers. Phalangists methodically combed the camps, killing perhaps a thousand defenseless women, children and old men in the process. Good thing Reagan's wink nullified his guarantee.

* Nicaragua. "The Reagan Wall." Modeled after the U.S. memorial to Americans who died in Vietnam, the Reagan Wall lists the names of the thousands of civilians murdered by "the moral equal of our Founding Fathers" (Ronnie's pet description for the contras). An asterisk denotes a sadistic murder -- e.g., a parent mutilated in front of his or her children. Two asterisks denote a sadistic murder derisively dismissed by a Reagan henchman -- an Elliott Abrams, Colin Powell, Ollie North or George Shultz.

* South Africa. "The Reagan White House." Not a replica of the Pennsylvania Avenue edifice but a Johannesburg mansion that harkens back to a simpler time when whiteness reigned supreme in Pretoria, to the delight of President Reagan. Pay the admission price of ten rand and hassle the black servants, demand to see their pass books, and interrogate the Nelson Mandela look-alike in the basement cell. Rail against "Soviet sponsorship" of the African National Congress and denounce it as "terrorist" -- just as the Reagan administration did. Conspire with the South African defense minister and the ghost of CIA director William Casey on how best to maintain illegal control of Namibia and destabilize Angola and Mozambique. Sure, those destabilizations led to hundreds of thousands of deaths, but you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs!

* Zaire. "Reagan Cane." Before he was chased into exile, President Mobutu Sese Seko high-stepped with this gold-encrusted walking stick. In its day, the Reagan Cane was ideal for maintaining balance or whacking a dissident. It now resides in a Kinshasa museum, a reminder of the golden years of the U.S.-Zaire-South Africa alliance, when plunderer nonpareil Mobutu was an ascendant Reagan Doctrine asset.

Additional honors have been bestowed in Indonesia, East Timor, the Philippines, Brazil and Chile, where people who struggled in the 1980s for freedom and democracy knew precisely where Ronald Reagan stood.

Dennis Hans is a freelance writer who has taught American Foreign Policy at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg; he's also a basketball shooting instructor. He can be reached at HANS_D@popmail.firn.edu

can't we stop with the reagan threads already?
they are getting quite redundant, and absolutely zero ground is ever made.Yeah, try telling that to the people making all the anti-Bush threads :D

Charisma my ass. Good bye and good f--- riddance, prune face.

Reagan's Legacy
by Dennis Hans
June 10, 2004

It is typical of Americans, unlike other peoples, to not truly appreciate someone until he or she passes away. Surely this is the case with our 40th president, Ronald Wilson Reagan.

True, long before he died his name was affixed to a California license plate, an aircraft carrier and a federal building. But all that amounts to small potatoes compared to the honors bestowed years earlier from a host of grateful nations and peoples. As we consider additional tributes to Mr. Reagan, let us recall some of the creative honors dreamed up by our international friends so that they'd never forget the man and his values.

* Afghanistan. "Ronnie Poppy." This opium flower honors President Reagan's contribution to the explosive growth of the Afghan heroin industry in the 1980s through his unconditional support for the most extreme Islamic fundamentalists who were justifiably opposed to the murderous Soviet occupation. When not battling the Red Army or rival guerrillas, or terrorizing civilians and shooting down non-military passenger planes, Reagan's favored fundamentalists cultivated opium, converted it into smack and supplied three-fourths of the junkies of Europe and one-third of the junkies of America. A tip of the Islamist hat to Ronnie for averting his eyes as the horse trade boomed and for refusing to use his considerable leverage to promote moderation or a negotiated settlement with an all-too-willing Mikhail Gorbachev. No need to dwell on the postscript: additional hundreds of thousands of Afghan deaths, followed by postwar chaos and the emergence of a government so atrocious that Afghans welcomed the Taliban as liberators. The Taliban, in turn, rolled out the red carpet for Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, who . . . Well, you know the rest of the story.

* Angola. "The Gipper Stump." This polished-oak peg leg features a heart-felt message from the Cold War commander-in-chief, who worked with the South African apartheid state to keep Jonas Savimbi and his UNITA terrorists armed and dangerous, thus keeping the Angolan market for artificial limbs - not to mention graveyards - booming. "Thanks for taking one for the Gipper," the inscription reads. "My best to you and any remaining appendages. -Love, Ronnie." * Argentina. "The Reagan Islands." Technically, the former Falkland/Malvinas Islands are no longer the property of Argentina, but Argentinians voted for the new name to honor Ronnie's role in the restoration of civilian rule in their country. His enthusiastic support for the torture-prone, anti-Semitic generals - magical men who had the ability to make dissidents and their relatives "disappear" - persuaded the high command that Reagan would take their side if they seized the disputed islands. They were wrong, and Margaret Thatcher's counterattack so devastated and humiliated the generals that they handed the government back to civilians.

* Cambodia. "Reagan Skull Bag." This handy Khmer Rouge carrying sack holds up to 25 skulls. The Skull Bag recognizes the Reagan administration's unstinting support for Pol Pot's assaults on Cambodians from 1981 to 1989, as well as Reagan's policy of recognizing the exiled Khmer Rouge at the U.N. as the legitimate government of Cambodia.

* Costa Rica. "El Rancho Reagan." The former "front farm" of a CIA and contra collaborator, El Rancho Reagan is preserved in its mid-1980s pristine prime. Contra killers lounge in the backyard, the safe overflows with cash to bribe Costa Rican officials to ignore violations of their nation's neutrality, and kilos of coke are on hand for transhipment.

* El Salvador. "The Reagan Missionary Position." No, not a sexual position for raping American churchwomen (for that would be in poor taste), but a position as in a stand. The Reagan Missionary Position, formulated by high officials Al Haig and Jeane Kirkpatrick, is that the three nuns and one layworker were pro-Marxist "political activists" and thus hardly innocent. Besides, their deaths were accidents, not planned executions. Haig explained that the churchwomen ran or were perceived to have run a "roadblock" and may have gotten caught in a guerrilla-National Guard "exchange of fire." Were they also raped in the crossfire? The Reagan Missionary Position's lips say no, but his eyes say yes.

* Guatemala. "The Reagan 'Bum Rap' Rap." Grandmaster Ronnie first laid down this rap in 1982 to discredit reports by Amnesty International and others of the army's slaughter of thousands of Indian villagers in the first months of General Efrain Rios Montt's rule. Ronnie rapped that Rios Montt (an evangelical minister nicknamed the "born-again butcher") was getting a "bum rap." The beauty of the bum-rap rap is that it bolsters "military impunity," regarded by Reagan as a cornerstone of client-state pseudo-democracy.

* Honduras. "Reagan's Rascals." The crazy cut-ups of Battalion 316 comprised a secret unit of CIA-backed torturers and murderers. They rid Honduras of real and imagined subversives and dissidents, assisted Reagan's beloved contras and ensured the continued rule of corrupt army thugs behind a civilian facade -- another cornerstone of client-state pseudo-democracy.

* Haiti. "Ronnie Doc." Duvalier loyalists awarded Reagan the highest degree a Haitian can steal, the Doctor of Kleptocracy. Papa Doc and Baby Doc earned theirs the hard way, while Reagan's honorary title states, "Long after the spineless State Department distanced itself from the sinking Duvalier ship, you stood steadfast. Unlike the ignorant Haitian masses, you never condemned Baby Doc's stylish extravagance."

* Kurdistan. "Reagan Red Hot." Nothing's more appetizing than human skin drenched with mustard, or for that matter, mustard gas, which is what a "Reagan Red Hot" hot dog is. (Great at a ballgame with jelly beans and beer.) Iraqi Kurds thank the Gipper from the surface of their seared hearts for his devotion to Saddam as he squirted them with mustard gas and other lethal condiments.

* Laos. "Ronnie Rain." In the mountains of Laos, April showers dump bee feces on flowers. Ronnie Rain salutes the 1982 White House "Yellow Rain" disinformation campaign - spread by the demented Wall Street Journal editorial board and many seemingly sane mainstream journalists - that portrayed the annual bee barrage as a genocidal commie chemical-weapons assault.

* Lebanon. "The Reagan Wink." It's as good as a nod. Go into the home of any member of the Lebanese Phalange militia and you'll see a glossy photo of the handsome Gipper closing his right eye. In 1982, Reagan engineered the withdrawal of PLO soldiers from Beirut by guaranteeing the safety of Palestinian civilians left behind. As soon as the PLO pulled out, Reagan withdrew the U.S. peace-keeping force. The Israeli military then opened the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps to the Phalange militia, who were bitter enemies of the PLO and not inclined to treat kindly any real or imagined PLO sympathizers. Phalangists methodically combed the camps, killing perhaps a thousand defenseless women, children and old men in the process. Good thing Reagan's wink nullified his guarantee.

* Nicaragua. "The Reagan Wall." Modeled after the U.S. memorial to Americans who died in Vietnam, the Reagan Wall lists the names of the thousands of civilians murdered by "the moral equal of our Founding Fathers" (Ronnie's pet description for the contras). An asterisk denotes a sadistic murder -- e.g., a parent mutilated in front of his or her children. Two asterisks denote a sadistic murder derisively dismissed by a Reagan henchman -- an Elliott Abrams, Colin Powell, Ollie North or George Shultz.

* South Africa. "The Reagan White House." Not a replica of the Pennsylvania Avenue edifice but a Johannesburg mansion that harkens back to a simpler time when whiteness reigned supreme in Pretoria, to the delight of President Reagan. Pay the admission price of ten rand and hassle the black servants, demand to see their pass books, and interrogate the Nelson Mandela look-alike in the basement cell. Rail against "Soviet sponsorship" of the African National Congress and denounce it as "terrorist" -- just as the Reagan administration did. Conspire with the South African defense minister and the ghost of CIA director William Casey on how best to maintain illegal control of Namibia and destabilize Angola and Mozambique. Sure, those destabilizations led to hundreds of thousands of deaths, but you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs!

* Zaire. "Reagan Cane." Before he was chased into exile, President Mobutu Sese Seko high-stepped with this gold-encrusted walking stick. In its day, the Reagan Cane was ideal for maintaining balance or whacking a dissident. It now resides in a Kinshasa museum, a reminder of the golden years of the U.S.-Zaire-South Africa alliance, when plunderer nonpareil Mobutu was an ascendant Reagan Doctrine asset.

Additional honors have been bestowed in Indonesia, East Timor, the Philippines, Brazil and Chile, where people who struggled in the 1980s for freedom and democracy knew precisely where Ronald Reagan stood.

Dennis Hans is a freelance writer who has taught American Foreign Policy at the University of South Florida in St. Petersburg; he's also a basketball shooting instructor. He can be reached at HANS_D@popmail.firn.eduDoes this guy have any reliable sources to back up a damn thing he said, or do you just cut, paste, and run?

Wow, the left just can't get enough of dancing on his grave, can you?

1st May, 1945. Hitler found dead by Russian Troops in burnt out German Bunker.

Soviet Soldier 1= Wow. So, He's dead.
Soviet Soldeir 2= Jeez. Well, I guess he wasn't that bad...

Just because someone's dead, doesn't stop them having been an idiot in the first place. And when his party dig out the flags and turn his funeral into Americas biggest ever party political broadcast (other than, perhaps, Iraq) and start singing his praises, it's up to normal people to bring everyone down to the ground. So he's dead? he's still a dick.

My God, in that funeral they even started comparing him to JESUS! Get a grip, America.

Reagan gave us Saddam Hussain, Osama Bin Laden, The Talliban and George W Bush. We can all see his lasting legacy of global conflict and unwrest.

Does this guy have any reliable sources to back up a damn thing he said, or do you just cut, paste, and run?

What is your definition of "reliable"? History twisted to agree with your cultish views?

Does this guy have any reliable sources to back up a damn thing he said, or do you just cut, paste, and run?

What is your definition of "reliable"? History twisted to agree with your cultish views?

Something not like Democracy Now or Indymedia. (Or, on the other side, Drudge Report)

dp

Im ronald reagan
yes Im the real reagan
all you other ronald reagans are just imitating
so won't the real ronald reagan please stand up, please stand up?

yall act like youve never seen a war criminal before
jaws all over the floor like osama and saddam just walked in the door
I started givin' them money years before the first gulf war
and I planned to give them some more!

[more verses to be added...]

Does this guy have any reliable sources to back up a damn thing he said, or do you just cut, paste, and run?

Cut paste and run?
I have more posts than you and I have been here longer. Don't you accuse me of running. Although, the truth is sometimes I'm getting really tired of this forum, thanks to conservative killboys and the like. Which leads to my infrequent posting.


Let me ask you: Do you have any reliable sources saying he didn't? Do you have non-corporate media?


He was one of the most sinister republicans and there will be more. They are experts in covering things up or shoving away the blame onto someone else.


*cough*negationist*cough*