At one time the Republicans were right as far as foreign policy goes that the Democrats were always, it seemed, getting us into some meaningless but tragic wars. However, when Republicans got us into “skirmishes” they were out of self defense, or patriotism.
These critics would conveniently forget that Truman and Johnson were under constant pressure from the hawkish Republicans never to let the commies get away with anything. Understandably the young would not know of Nixon who began his cleansing before Joe McCarthy. Nixon as a congressman and senator was belligerently against China’s admission to the UN, staging China’s entrance into Korea, not to mention MacArthur’s atrocious, costly bluff that the Chinese called. As a matter of fact, in 1950s I wrote a letter then to Newsday blasting Nixon. Ironically, twenty years later he becomes a hero by visiting China!


There wasn’t a peep — too busy wrapping trees in yellow ribbons — out of the nation over the Gulf “War” because it had meaning, another country — also an authoritarian — was violated and as a bonus it had oil. Colin Powell was then lionized, though he had the audacity — raising hairs among WWII veterans — to claim the war was the greatest in history. Could you imagine the Japanese sitting on their hands for six months while we assembled a war machine? [Give me a break.] Besides everyone knew Saddam was a horrendous bully to his own people but would run and hide — why, a few years earlier even Iran kicked his ass!


Had the new Bush been advised by his father, he would have conceded that Saddam was a fake, and not worth the time of day.