Former Prs. Carter Has a Lot of Nerve!

kittenboy, The deal President Reagan did with Iran was all about cleaning up President Carter's messes. Same deal with the Contras. All of this was avoidable. All President Carter had to do was act in the interests of his country. Then even the Iraq and Afganistan wars might not have happened. The difference between what went on in the 1970's and right now is that in the 70's Carter was knowingly and delibrately cutting off what the military needed. Carter's actions were with malice aforethought. When the Iraq war started we did not have a lot of notice and the precise equipment needed was not established until the mission got going. As the military learned what was needed it was acquired. Could families buy body armour for their own members faster than the government could get it? YES, private intiative is alway faster, better, cheaper, and more efficient than government. Are the troops now getting more armor? Yes. Is there now a replacement for the humvee in the pipeline that is much stronger and bomb resistent? Yes. These things take time. Each war is different. The difference between President Carter and President Bush is that President Carter delibrately sabotaged our efforts to have an effective defense for the country while President Bush is doing the best a person could do. To make your point for you, and to be fair, I will say that there is much to criticize President Bush about. That both Afganistan and Iraq were each invaded and conquered in record time is not something for which President Bush can be found at fault. These were fantastic achievements. That the US military has not completely pacified the insurgencies in Iraq and Afganistan is something for which President Bush should be held to account. However, if you knew anything about military operations, you might not be too quick to complain concerning Bush's method's of dealing with the insurgents. The insurgents are only doing as well as they are, even though they are dying in large numbers, because President Bush is not letting the military use the ruthless methods they know would succeed and end the insurgency very quickly. You see, President Bush's shortcoming in the Iraq and Afganistan wars is that he is being too nice of a guy. He is letting himself be influenced too much by world opinion, which is a fault he shares with President Carter. I hope this has helped.

My first time through Army basic training was in 1982. I remember some of the NCOs talking about what they refered to as "the 70s Army"... it didn't sound like the 80s Army I was proud to serve in. I also got caught up in Clinton's "draw down"... the one that resulted in less than 10% of the Active Duty Army being war vets... the one that (in fact) gave NO promotion points for wartime experience. I can understand why Clinton gutted the military, I mean he loathed it and we returned the sentiment. Prs. Carter was a vet though, in fact, he is the only president who ever qualified for his "Dolphins" as a Submariner. I would expect more from a graduate of Annapolis.

Enter stage right, redyellow, the voice of reason. :) I just wanted to stick my two cents in here and say I've noticed in reading this discussion that I don't think there is one president that could be portrayed as perfect, they all have their faults, all have left some mess or another for the next administration to clean up and most of all they are human! Why do we think that when a person is elected president that should be perfect?

You just had to bring Reagan into it didn't you...:) You are right, we have not had a really good president since Reagan was in office, and that whole Iran Contra thing was just cleaning up after Carter. I doubt we see another one like Reagan very soon, but it would be nice for a change. Reagan didn't mess around with these other governments and they knew it.

Ron Reagans' the best President this country has had in 60 years .Virtual demolition of a major socialist party .That's quite a mark in history if you ask me.Now if we could just find someone like him this time around maybe we'd get the good old U.S. back on track . P.S. I think grinding away at the Middle East is are next big hurdle ,But maybe BUSH did'nt think the strategy through enough ;However we must stay at it or the Taliban will be knocking on our back door again real soon .

kittenboy,you don't have the faintest idea as to what you are talking about. You are just laying charges willy nilly and showing off your ignorance. Reagan sold us out to the Iranians? Can you really be that misinformed? You aren't even old enough to know anything about Reagan other then what you have been told or what you read someplace...and you sure don't know what you are talking about in this. Bush sold us out to the Saudis? I don't think so...again you talk about things you don't know or even understand. All you do is blindly spout off things that make no sense. Why don't you try to educate yourself a little bit...you could sure use it. Reagan was a lot better president then anyone since him and nearly everyone before him...and you don't have a clue.

Too true! Carter should go back to humanitarian work, where he was at his best.

Oh I meant to add Carter only lost the election by 10% of the popular vote. That just proves how some people can make certain results reflect what they want, and show all how the electoral college does not work.