When in June of 1982, Begin's Israeli army suddenly attacked multi-ethnic Lebanon as supposedly a move against the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) that had taken refuge there, the country fell into complete chaos. Consequently, Christians of all varieties and Muslims of all varieties fell into conflict with each other. The slaughter became so extensive that finally in August of 1982 the U.N. set up a Multinational Force (MNF) of troops from largely America, France and Italy (about 600-800 troops each) to be sent to Lebanon to evacuate PLO fighters from Lebanon … and to separate the various factions. But the violence did not abate, but merely grew worse … especially when in mid-September Maronite Christian Arab allies of Israel (and supervised by Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon) surrounded Palestinian refugee camps and began to kill the people found there. The world was horrified. Consequently, America, France and Italy decided to increase substantially the number of their troops in order to regain some semblance of order … at least in central Lebanon (Syria had taken over much of the northern half of the country). And apparently the effort was working. But the following April (1983) a suicide van loaded with explosives bombed the American Embassy in Beirut, killing 63 people, the first of many smaller attacks on American peacekeepers. Then in October two more truck bombs blew up the American and French barracks, killing 241 American and 58 French soldiers.3 At this point calls began to be heard in both America and France to "bring the boys home." Clearly the MNF was not able to restore Lebanon to a state of peace. But Reagan still wanted to hang tough in Lebanon. He had an obligation to fulfill. But by February of 1984, Reagan was willing to acknowledge that his effort was not producing any progress … only the further loss of American life.  Thus, admitting failure, he began pulling U.S. troops out of Lebanon. But surprisingly, this admission of failure to achieve grand goals did not lessen the respect of the American people for their president. The ability of a leader to admit failure and pull back from a bad situation was actually considered by most as the measure of their leader's greatness. Normally, in the face of such failure, a terrible leader will want to dig ever deeper into a situation in the hope of yet somehow recovering his own sagging reputation – making the situation vastly worse … something seen way too often in history. 3These suicide bombings were presumably conducted by Iran-backed Hezbollah operatives belonging to a group that called itself Islamic Jihad. US Marine HQs bombed in Lebanon by Muslim fundamentalists - October 1983 (241 Americans were killed; a French base was simultaneously bombed: 58 Frenchmen were killed) American soldier being pulled from the rubble of a terrorists blast in Beirut, Lebanon - October 1983 GRENADA Part of this Reagan picture, however, was shaped by an event elsewhere that took place at the same time as the military barracks bombing in Lebanon. A Marxist military coup had taken place in 1979 in the tiny Caribbean country of Granada, which in turn brought on considerable political chaos in the country. This then prompted neighboring countries and the former governor-general of the island to call on America to restore Granada to its constitutional order. And they found a receptive audience with Reagan, who was already concerned about what a Marxist regime – thus like Castro's Cuba, a Russian puppet – situated along the naval path to the Panama Canal might mean strategically to American naval power. After all, although Carter had set up the transfer of the Canal from American hands, the American navy still needed the Canal to connect its Atlantic and Pacific fleets. Also, with the shooting of civilians caught in the crossfire, the 600 American medical students studying in the country were an additional concern. Thus on 25 October (1983), Reagan sent American troops (joined by troops from six of the neighboring countries) to invade Grenada. The action immediately brought on a huge outcry from the loud and highly angry "anti-imperialist" sector of American – and international – society. And the U.N. General Assembly voted a strong protest against the American action. However, the American success in overthrowing the Marxist regime came so quickly that it brought strong approval from the majority of the American public. And Reagan's disregard of the U.N. resolution only strengthened further his image as a president not easily swayed by world public opinion. And indeed, the world quickly got over its feelings about the matter. It had bigger things to focus on.   Reagan lands US marines in the Caribbean island of Granada (1983) when it looks as if it might become another outpost of Communism Reagan and Eugenia Charles discussing Grenada - 1983 U.S. Marines in Grenada - 1983 A US Marine in St. George's Grenada with captured Grenadian soldier - October 1983 President Reagan and the Press President Reagan and his tough US Ambassador to the UN, Jeane Kirkpatrick - 11 December 1984 (This picture is very special to me.  Jeanne Kirkpatrick was very supportive of my doctoral  work at Georgetown ... ultimately being one of the three professors before which in 1971 I had to defend my dissertation on ethnic conflict in Belgium.  She helped make the event a breeze!) REAGAN'S REELECTION - 1984 The Democrats had little chance of gaining the White House, given Reagan's very high public approval ratings. But they did call on former Minnesota Senator and Carter's Vice President Walter Mondale to run as their candidate. Unsurprisingly, Reagan won 58.8 percent of the vote to Mondale's 40.6 percent and 525 Electoral College votes for Reagan to only 13 votes for Mondale. Reagan therefore expected to enjoy a very pleasant second term.   Jesse Jackson - in the Presidential run in 1984 Walter Mondale - Democratic Presidential candidate in the 1984 race The Reagan-Mondale televised debates - 1984 Reagan being sworn in for his second term in the rotunda of the US Capitol - 1985 THE IRAN-CONTRA AFFAIR Then in November of 1986 a Lebanese newspaper article found its way to the American media … about some kind of secret weapons sale to Iran made by officials high-up in the Reagan Administration – supposedly as part of an accompanying deal to gain the release of some American hostages held by the Iranian-backed Palestinian organization Hezbollah. The money received in the deal furthermore was also used secretly to fund a CIA-backed guerrilla group, the Contras," attempting to overthrow the Sandinista government of Nicaragua, a government with strong "Leftist" tendencies that made American officials very nervous. There were also rumors that drug money was also involved in the support of the Contras. As far as the matter of paying for the release of those American hostages, this was in strong violation of the official stand against making just such payments – lest this simply encourage more hostage-taking for money. And as for the support of the Contras, this was in direct violation of a Boland Amendment passed by a Democratic-Party-controlled Congress designed to keep America out of the turmoil that was shaking Central America. Indeed, at the time, Central America was suffering from deep unemployment … which inspired Sandinista-supported guerrillas to try to overthrow the traditional neighboring regimes of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. And in El Salvador the level of violence was running very high. Furthermore, with Cuba also supporting the Sandinista effort, American fears of indirect Soviet involvement in the region ran high. But this very fear was what inspired the Boland Amendment … and at the same time the decision somewhere in the Reagan Administration to ignore the congressional ruling and insert American power into the dynamic … in order to bring things back under more traditional control. In response to the Congressional (and ultimately public) shock over these secret deals, the next month (December) Reagan himself set up a three-man commission under former Texas Senator John Tower to look into the matter. What the Tower Commission soon concluded (February 1987) was that the CIA should have made both the president and Congress aware of its activities – faulting Reagan for not following events closely within his own Administration. Congress of course was looking for an outcome more damaging to the president than a simple chastisement for official failure. They wanted him impeached ... most tragically, impeachment somehow now being considered to be a very useful and quite normal political strategy in American politics! They thus formed their own commissions earlier in January – anticipating that the Tower Commission would fail to deliver the grounds they would need to impeach Reagan. Thus from early May to early August (1987) the American public was treated to another well-broadcasted congressional investigation into what was now termed the "Iran-Contra Affair." But the best they could get from the matter was only Marine Colonel Ollie North being caught in a lie about the transfer of Contra funds … something they could not act on because he had been extended immunity as part of his offering testimony in the matter. And the Senators ultimately proved to be unwilling to push Reagan on the matter – seeing nothing but trouble for the country (and themselves) in doing so. Actually, Reagan (briefly) would suffer from a drop in his popularity. And, perhaps not surprisingly, Col. North would actually become something of a hero to American Conservatives.   Nicaraguan President and Sandinista leader, Daniel Ortega, campaigning in support of his government - 1984. Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega elected President of Nicaragua - 1985 Soviet and Cuban-backed Sandinista soldiers American-backed (CIA) Nicaraguan Contras Sole-surviving American airman, Eugene Hasenfus shot down by Sandinistas delivering weapons to the Contras ... .whose capture blows the secret operation wide open (October 1986) America's Liberal media was no less involved.  A Time Magazine cover coming out  just at election time in November of 1986, covering the Reagan "scandal" Reagan being grilled by the press over the Iran-Contra Affair Lt. Col. Ollie North Testifying before Congress in the Iran-contra affair - July 1987 Lt. Col. Olllie North testifying before the Senate about the Iran-contra affair - July 1987 Oliver North testifying about the Iran-Contra affair. President Regan received the Tower Commission Report in the Cabinet Room with Senators John Tower (l.) and Edmund Muskie (r.) attending - February 26, 1987 Go on to the next section:  The Collapse of the Soviet Empire   Miles H. Hodges