[lbo-talk] Election 2004

[Michael Pugliese]

Carrol Cox> P.S. 2 The traditional virtue (post-w.w. 2) of the RP has been its
> cowardice in foreign affairs when it is in office. Very nearly
> archetypal was Reagan's turning tail and fleeing Lebanon after the 
> death
> of 200 marines there. On this basis, Bush _may_ be the lesser evil in
> this election.

    And, invading Grenada a few days afterwards, after Bernard Coard, the Stalinist in the NJM leadership assasinated Maurice Bishop, accelerating the political crisis, giving Reagan the last pretext/opening to invade. (Ramsey Clark, btw, defending Coard, in court later)

    On Lebanon, and the heavy bombardment by US battle ships, the preceded the Hizbollah bomb that killed the 280 or so Marines, see from Pluto Press, "Seeds of Hate: How America's Flawed Middle East Policy Ignited the Jihad, " by Lawrence Pintak.