"...the bombing of Russia will begin in five minutes..."

Isn't it amazing the way we bum people up when they die?

World leaders have been lining up all weekend to express sympathy in the face of Ronald Reagan's death.
Apparently, now he 's dead he was "...a great American" and an "Optimist".

Here are a few reminders of what he was really like:

1981
U.S. Steps up role in El Salvador. This poor Central American country was in the grip of a civil war, with poor revolutionaries fighting the American-supported military regime, whose "death squads" killed thousands of dissidents, including American missionaries. Seeing the revolutionaries as a Communist threat that could result in another Soviet-allied port, Reagan decided that beefing up the funds to the regime would win the war faster. Congress decided to increase funds.

1982
U.S.Troops ordered to Lebanon. Following a PLO shelling from Lebanon in 1981, Israel bombs supposed PLO bases outside of Lebanon, killing many civilians. Israel then annexes the Golan Heights, a Syrian territory. In 1982, Israel invades Lebanon, seizing the capital of Beirut in the midst of a Lebanese civil war. Lebanon asks for aid from Syria, and the Israelis are fighting the Syrians, the Lebanese regime, and the Lebanese rebels, making refugees out of one million civilians. To promote peace, Reagan orders U.S. marines to Lebanon. Unsure of what to do, the marines get embroiled in the war.

U.S. aid to Contras in Nicaragua revealed. In Nicaragua, the Sandanista rebels lead by Daniel Ortega, overthrew the right wing Somoza dictatorship. After buying weapons from the Soviets and asking Cubans to work in their hospitals, schools, and army, the Sandanistas appeared to be a Soviet client. In 1981 the CIA begins the training, arming, and direction of more than ten thousand counterrevolutionaries, or contras, most of whom supported the Somoza regime. From CIA bases in Honduras and Costa Rica, the contras raided Nicaragua, killing innocents and destroying oil refineries.

1983
Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars) announced. Star Wars? What is this, an attempt to get kids interested in national defense? Actually, Reagan, believing the more arms we had the better negotiations with Russia would go, authorized the development of many new weapons, including the MX missile, the B-1 bomber, and an anti-missile defense system from outer space, or the Star Wars project.

Invasion of Grenada. After a pro-Cuban leftist regime takes power in the Caribbean island of Grenada, Reagan decides to overthrow it.

1986
Iran-Contra Scandal breaks. during a time when the U.S. was prohibited from sending arms to the Contras, the government improvises. The U.S., thanks to the idea of John M. Poindexter, Oliver North, and CIA Director William Casey, sold arms to Iran and diverted the profits to the Contras so that they could purchase weapons. At this time, the U.S. was condemning Iran as a terrorist nation for it's support of the Shiite Muslims in Lebanon (who had U.S. hostages), urging it's allies to not trade with them. The scandal made Reagan look bad. Really bad. And stupid too, because he acted as if oblivious to the entire thing.

1988
U.S. warship downs Iranian airliner. Thanks to an overeager captain, a U.S. warship outfitted with new technology downs an Iranian commercial airliner, killing hundreds of Iranian civilians.

The major conflict of the Reagan administration was foreign affairs. With the adoption of a policy promoting the blatant non-recognition of sovereign governments that might side with the Soviets or Cuba, Reagan dumped billions of dollars into the support of the Contras and various other governments. This didn't even appear necessary, because America was on the verge of an unprecedented peace with the Soviets.
In the Middle East, Reagan pointlessly sent troops to Lebanon, only to have them beaten by terrorists, causing uneasy relations with Libya and Iran.

I'll always remember Reagan as the man who gave Thatcher international credibility and as the man who allowed fundimentalist Christians their foothold in the White House.
But most of all, I'll remember him fondly as a man who loved his opressive right wing puppet governments. Who knows, maybe because he just loved puppets.
Which reminds me; I wonder why there were no expressions of sympathy from his one time best bud, a Mr Saddam Hussein?

And while we're at it 66 (Unflattering) things about Ronald Reagan.