In her March 27 column, Karna Bodman speculates how President Reagan might manage Ukraine. Her credibility, however, is severely damaged by significant factual errors and inexcusable omissions.
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Defense budget: Democrat-led, bipartisan Congress substantially increased the budget over Donald Trump’s last budget, allocating more money than requested by both Biden and the Pentagon.
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Energy: America is energy self-sufficient, with small oil imports designated only to manage occasional excessive demand. Very limited specific crude oil comes from Russia; 75 percent of it is processed here, then exported. Canada supplies 98 percent of the tiny amount of imported natural gas. Keystone XL transported oil was for export.
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Afghanistan: Bodman neglects the 241 troops killed in 1983 in Lebanon when their barracks were attacked. Reagan ignored earlier warning signs when 17 Americans were killed during an attack on our embassy. His policy was a disaster and the Marines withdrew.
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Iran-Contra scandal: She neglects Reagan illegally selling arms to Khomeini in Iran in order to fund right-wing contras to overthrow Nicaragua’s leftist government. Indictments followed.
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Reagan’s “Star Wars” system would not intercept hypersonic missiles or artillery.
Joe Biden has skillfully unified NATO to meet the Russian threat. History will decide whether increased sanctions and cautiously avoiding escalation is correct.
Bodman’s speculation is wishfully rewritten history.
Michael Miller, Ponte Vedra Beach
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Letter: Wishful thinking to wonder how Reagan would handle Ukraine
