Republicans Talk Tough----But Is Anyone Listening?

But lets examine the facts anyway.  Ronald Reagan said soon after he was elected President and even during his campaign "Terrorist can run but they can't hide."  He continued his tough talk and then sent our marines to Beruit as peace keepers after Israel invaded Lebanon and the killing that followed.

 

Terrorists then truck bombed our marines compound while many were sleeping and killed 241 marines in the attack.  It was the same Reagan administration who sold arms to Iran for hostages after he told the American people he would never negotiate with terrorists.

 

George W. Bush also talked tough before and after his election concerning terrorism. Yet, the worst foreign terror attack on U.S. soil happened in the midst of his tough talk.  Despite Mr. Bush's tough talk he had no plan in effect prior to or on 9-11 to address the threat from Al Qaeda.  His failure to protect the country and its people was an embarrassment to Mr. Bush, so he laid the ground work for a war and occupation of Iraq over WMD that did not exist. 

 

Those are not the only terrorist attacks against Americans that occurred on Reagan and Bush's watch while they were trying to act tough.  But it was the worst because of the number of people killed.  Now the present Republican Presidential candidates who are seeking the nomination are trying to out talk each other on being tough on terrorist.

 

They are trying to talk tough on Iraq and are now going out of their way to act and talk tough about Iran.  Maybe the GOP thinks that tough talk scares the terrorists.  But it clearly does not. The fact is that more terror attacks have occurred.  The voters seem to like tough talk.  It worked for Reagan and Bush in their reelections.  But the tough talk did not make America safer and in fact increased American hatred around the world.  Al Qaeda in Iraq was no where to be found prior to our war and occupation in Iraq.

 

Other past Presidents faced more severe threats to our country and its people and handled those threats successfully with out the so called brag of talking tough.  They realized it would take more than tough talk to solve the problems.  Those who like to sound tough would have our country and men and women in uniform in an ongoing war far into the future.  The American people need to reject tough talk as a policy to deal with terrorists, or for that matter, anything, when they vote for the next president.

 

People would do well to remember that the leaders of Israel have been talking tough for over 40 years, yet they are still fighting terrorism or so they tell us.  That policy has also been a failure.  Our country needs a foreign policy based on understanding how to best deal with the problem with wisdom and character that best represents what America stands for.  The voters can keep electing the tough talkers, but what will that accomplish?