Quote Originally Posted by sharrukin
This is one reason that men such as Clinton and Bush, lacking military experience can be so dangerous as they do not understand the military or war. They can replace this experience with the wisdom to trust those who have such expertise. President Reagan knew to trust the right men, while Clinton and Bush failed on this account. Lacking both they become dangerous fools.
I disagree with the characterization of Clinton here. He actually did a decent job overall and dealt with the Serbian problems. And the GOP opposed him for his strike against Osama...said it was a distraction from the BJ witchhunt. You can point to Somalia, but I can also point to Reagan's equivalent, Lebanon. Both were ill conceived in that the situations were too chaotic for America to do much about. Both had the sense to pull out when it became apparent that it was either going to require much more committment, or a pullout.