WWRD: Would Reagan have invaded Iraq?

Courtesy Ronald Reagan Library

Ronald and Nancy Reagan dealt with the aftermath of a 1983 Beirut bombing.

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WWRD: Would Reagan have invaded Iraq?

In a season that has seen GOP candidates vying for Ronald Reagan's mantle, two authors say the former president wouldn't have invaded Iraq. "Despite the widespread support for the 2003 invasion among Reaganites in Congress, our research has convinced us that Reagan would not have undertaken Bush's nation-building war," say Lou and Carl Cannon.

Would Reagan have invaded Iraq? Does it matter?

Ben likes: Was Reagan the first neoconservative?

Patrick Buchanan/The American Cause

Ronald Reagan was one of us, a Cold War anti-communist union leader in the 1940s when neocons were still in mourning for Leon Trotsky. He was a militant free-market conservative in the 1950s when they were still wild about Harry. He was a fiery Goldwaterite in the 1960s when neocons were going all the way with LBJ.

None can say with certitude how Reagan would have responded to 9-11. Yet, it is hard to believe he would have invaded Iraq, absent hard evidence of Saddam's involvement in Sept. 11. For, in spite of Reagan's reputation as a cowboy, prudence – that most conservative of virtues – was a hallmark of his presidency in the Cold War conflict.

Joel likes: The real Reagan

Michael Kinsley/Los Angeles Times

Would Reagan "walk out of" Iraq? Far from clear. He scurried out of Lebanon in 1984 after things got hot there. During the Reagan years, the United States was pro-Iraq in its war against Iran, although we also sold weapons to Iran to raise money for a terrorist war we were secretly financing in Nicaragua, while denouncing terrorism. It's hard to find any "unshakable set of principles" in this mess.