Originally Posted by
Lonewolf_50
Interesting points (I added the spoiler to avoid visual clutter) but I'll remind you that Reagan got mixed up in Lebanon, which was a direct result of the Israeli operations against Palestinian refugees in Southern Lebanon, and the suicide truck bomb killed over 200 US Marines, and another one killed over 50 French troops.
I got to float around the Eastern Med for a while (as our ship awaited calls for naval gunfire support) during that period. A friend of mine (USMC, Phrog pilot) had an RPG go through his aircraft without exploding.
Reagan didn't quite avoid getting involved.
Evening Lonewolf.
I view the current situation from the perspective of Israel's intervention in the Bekka Valley in '82 which, as you point out, resulted in casualties from American and French contingents of the Multi National Force. It was the loss of three USN jets in one day during airstrikes against Syrian targets which convinced Reagan to withdraw from the conflict. It was a very wise decision. He placed a higher priority on protecting American servicemen than placing them in harm's way. There is a danger that America may once again be drawn into the region by Israel. What happened to the MNF effort in Lebanon should inform any renewal of the idea from Israel that an International peace keeping force would be a viable solution for Gaza.
RE: melmothtw #335
Yes, aware of the Nickel Grass airlift which helped prevent a catastrophe. Nixon was careful to limit material support and avoid direct involvement in an Arab war. Shuttle diplomacy by Kissinger defused hostilities between States which were, at that time, representative of competing Cold war ideologies between the US and USSR. However, that operation created a precedent, and a permanent reliance by Israel upon the United States for political, financial, and crucially, military support.