Inside the Beltway: How would Ronald Reagan battle the Islamic State?

By Jennifer Harper - The Washington Times - Wednesday, November 18, 2015

NEWS AND OPINION:

ANALYSIS/OPINION

So how would Ronald Reagan have handled the terrorist attacks on Paris and the grim aftermath?

“President Reagan would have done everything Barack Obama is not doing. He would have been rational, manly, intellectual and tough. He would not have been a shameful, spoiled little man child, irrationally attacking Americans while on foreign soil,” historian Craig Shirley tells Inside the Beltway.

“Ronald Reagan will go down in history as a president who made the world safer and freer. Obama will go down in history as one of the worst, most divisive, most shallow, most foolish, most immature presidents. As an historian, I am hard pressed to think of a worse president than Obama,” say Mr. Shirley, who has written three books on the 40th president, most recently “Last Act,” which covers Reagan’s life after leaving the White House.

Mr. Shirley speculates on the particulars of Gipper strategy in this day and age.

“ISIS, al Qaeda and radical Islam overall is a complex enemy that requires different kind of response, much like Soviet communism. It requires an ideological response, and Reagan would have understood that. Besides the religious component, radical Islam is very much a social movement,” Mr. Shirley notes in an analysis featured in Polizette.

“Reagan would have approached the fight against radical Islamic terrorism ideologically, the way he did with communism. He would break ISIS economically, employ heavy surveillance and espionage techniques and would go after all those who aid them — including our ’allies’ in Saudi Arabia, Gulf states, and Syrian ’moderates’,” the historian continues.

“He would then probably try to form a wide front of nations that would include both our traditional allies, the Middle East nations (and possibly today’s Christian Russia or free market China) and would try to infiltrate the radical Islamic world — and find the traitors inside who would be willing to infiltrate their ranks and do the heavy lifting,” he adds.

Mr. Shirley believes Reagan would have deployed America’s military force overseas “as a last resort” if the cause was vital to the national interest, undertaken with clear intent — and “reasonable assurance the cause we are fighting for and the actions we take will have the support of the American people and Congress.”

FOR THE LEXICON

#RefugeesWelcome

— New twitter hashtag introduced Wednesday by the White House.

“Even as we intensify our efforts in coordination with our partners to take out ISIL, we cannot turn our backs on those most threatened by the terrorist group. The refugees that have captivated so much attention in the wake of Friday’s attack are fleeing precisely the type of senseless slaughter that occurred in Paris,” the White House advises.

NOW THERE’S A THOUGHT

“Some financial institutions may be considered too big to fail, but contemporary Western society may be too frivolous to survive. The Romans had bread and circuses to keep the masses passive and unthinking. We have electronic gadgets, drugs, and pornography. Like the Roman Empire, we too may decline and fall. What happened in Paris may be just the beginning,” observes syndicated columnist Thomas Sowell.

IN THE NAME OF RATINGS

Seven very long years ago, comedian Tina Fey portrayed then-vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” several times. The network has just announced that Ms. Fey will return to the show on Dec. 19, and some suggest she could revisit her Palin character.

“A few weeks before the 2008 vote, Fey reprised her role as Sarah Palin, with the real VP nominee looking on. That episode gave SNL its best ratings in 14 years. It drew 5 million more viewers than this season’s episode hosted by Donald Trump,” points out Chris Ariens, a columnist for TV Newser.

Some viewers wonder why Democratic hopeful Sen. Bernard Sanders has not been called to SNL host duty following comic Larry David’s recent portrayals of the Vermont lawmaker. Mr. Sanders’ time could come; he has a huge following among the young and restless. And that means ratings.

According to a new Fox News poll, Mr. Sanders now bests front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton in the presidential derby among New Hampshire Democrats, by 45 percent to 44 percent. But he also has the support of the all-important audience under 45: Mr. Sanders garners the support of 59 percent of them.

ON THE RADAR

The Planned Parenthood matter is not over quite yet. On Nov. 30, a big pink bus departs Sacramento, California, for a two-week, 12-state tour organized by Students for Life of America, and five other pro-life groups, all calling for criminal investigations of Planned Parenthood, and for the defunding of the organization.

“Planned Parenthood betrays women by using them and their preborn children for profit and pushing abortion above all else and it’s time to take that message to as many Americans as possible,” said Kristan Hawkins, president of the student group.

The bus will stop at numerous Planned Parenthood offices along the way; organizers will collect practical donations for pregnant moms in need — we’re talking diapers, wipes, maternity clothes, baby gear and clothing.

“The pro-life movement cares about women and their preborn babies and we are going to do everything we can to save them both from the greedy hands of Planned Parenthood, who will do anything to cushion their bottom line and sell out women — and their babies — for money,” Ms. Hawkins says.

POLL DU JOUR

• 64 percent of Americans say the Muslim religion is inherently peaceful, though some followers “twist teachings to justify violence”; 61 percent of Republicans and 76 percent of Democrats agree.

• 53 percent say the U.S. should not accept any Syrian refugees; 69 percent of Republicans and 36 percent of Democrats agree.

• 53 percent say the U.S. should join with Russia to combat the Islamic State; 59 percent of Republicans and 50 percent of Democrats agree.

• 48 percent overall are mostly confident the U.S. is protecting homeland from a terrorist attack; 32 percent of Republicans and 62 percent of Democrats agree.

• 44 percent overall say the U.S. should send ground troops to combat the Islamic State; 61 percent of Republicans and 31 percent of Democrats agree.

Source: A Bloomberg Politics poll of 628 U.S. adults conducted Nov. 16-17.

• Chatter, cautionary tales to jharper@washingtontimes.com.

• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.