Quote Originally Posted by Breukelen advocaat
Bin laden and his cohorts were very pissed off that the U.S. didn't provide actual soldiers to repel the Soviet invaders. I believe that Reagan did the right thing by not going to war with the Soviet Army, regardless of what the future taliban and al quida wanted at the time. His biggest mistake was helping them, training them in military maneuvers, allowing them to establish a theocratic dictatorship, and giving them economic aid.
my reading doesn't indicate that bin laden or any other anti-soviet agents wanted american troops on the ground to repel the soviets. like the american revolutionaries didn't want french soldiers on the ground; they just wanted the equipment.
reagan DID in effect go to war w/ the soviets. we supplied arms, money, and intel. the US wasn't directly engaged w/ the soviets, but we did everything short of putting troops on the ground.
i see "helping them, training them in military maneuvers, allowing them to establish a theocratic dictatorship, and giving them economic aid", to quote you, as tantamount to goading them on then getting pissed when they bite back. this is another example of the mentality that has gotten the US into so much hot water over the years: let's do what helps us the most now, regardless of how it will affect the next administration, much less future generations".