There is a big difference between spreading disinformation, and engaging in foreign relations. If Putin had deliberately put off the prisoner exchange to favor Trump, that would have been egregious, but he decided to go ahead and do what made sense from his pragmatic perspective once the terms had been negotiated. Iran deliberately held onto the American hostages until Ronald Reagan took office in order to harm Jimmy Carter's electoral chances. That was bad.
The point of my previous post is that Putin seems no longer to be going out of his way to favor the Dumpster. I just think that's interesting. I don't actually approve of anything he does, he's a murderous psychopath.
3 comments:
An interesting speculation, but it's implausible that Iran would make moves to favor Reagan, a loud and powerful critic of Iran, when a much weaker Carter would have suited their agenda much better.
Well, it may seem a bit surprising but it's pretty clear that it happened. Yes, Reagan was a loud critic of Iran but so was Carter. Talk is cheap. Iran released the hostages within minutes of Reagan taking office. Most historians believe the hostage crisis cost Carter reelection, which obviously the Iranians were smart enough to figure out.
Subsequently, Reagan sold arms to Iran, in violation of international sanctions, hoping to use the money to illegally fund insurgents in Nicaragua. Like I say, talk is cheap.
Well, you may find it surprising, but Carter was just as loud and powerful a critic of Iran. Talk is cheap. Most historians believe the hostage crisis cost Carter reelection, and the Iranians were smart enough to figure that out. They released the hostages minutes after Reagan took office. Subsequently, the loud and powerful Ronald Reagan sold arms to Iran illegally, in violation of international sanctions. So the Iranians got what they wanted. Like I say, talk is cheap.
Post a Comment