The last Republican President I ever had any respect for.........
Many moons ago when I was a young woman President Eisenhower had a very hard decision to make about the Hungarian freedom-fighters. He had to decide to help them or not and decided to not help them. I could not understand that decision for years. I still have some issue with it but I wasn't the President and since maturing it has become evident that at that time I had no idea how immense the decisions made in the Oval Office really are.
Here is the back story on this from the University of Virginia President page on Dwight D. Eisenhower Reference Resource:
.."Eisenhower decided not to take action to aid the Hungarian freedom-fighters since any intervention carried the risk of a U.S.-Soviet war that could lead to a nuclear exchange....
'Eisenhower at times had difficulty balancing means and ends in protecting national security. He authorized covert interventions into the internal affairs of other nations and provided aid to dictators in the interest of protecting "the free world." He spent half or more of the federal budget on the armed services, even as he proclaimed that "every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired" was "a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed." Yet Eisenhower knew that real security meant preserving fundamental values. His Farewell Address summarized principles that had guided a lifetime of service to his country."
http://millercenter.org/president/eisenhower/essays/biography/5
President Obama now finds himself in the position to try and find a balance that will set in motion a level of force and support for the Syrian people that will give Assad a message that he cannot continue to slaughter his citizens with no questions asked by the Free World. This is complicated by the fact that there are other influences involved including Al-Qaeda and Russian pressure.
I don't know how I feel about this issue because I do not know the entire intelligence reports accept for what I have heard on the news. Whatever is done it will be a moment in history that will show that President Obama did stand behind his word. Many will question him as they did Eisenhower. Either way this is a truly tragic situation that will take years to come to a final resolution.
= new reply since forum marked as read
One of DU's best posters returns! Good post, and he sure sounds nothing like today's repubs...
Get it here -> http://www.zazzle.com/youre_not_in_the_1_why_vote_like_you_are_bumpe_bumper_sticker-128479630785214922?rf=238107662556833486
