don@allegra.UUCP (11/01/83)
How can anyone seriously believe that a 20-mile wide island can be a threat to the United States no matter where it is? They could not block strategic supplies for more than 24 hours before being blown to bits. That is a feeble excuse for invading. Maurice Bishop's death was a terrible loss to Grenada, and Reagan took advantage of the chaos that resulted. I am sure they will hold elections soon though. The CIA is quite expert at holding elections. Some unpopular right wing Nazi will become their leader after winning 102 percent of the votes. Meanwhile, Nicaragua is in a state of siege. Their industrial base is being sabotaged by US trained terrorists. Even thought Mexico is giving oil to Nicaragua, US-owned tankers are now refusing to carry it there. Any day now, some soldier will set one foot inside Honduras, chasing someone who just bombed a farm house, and Reagan will announce that we are invading Nicaragua to save Honduras from Soviet Imperialism.
rigney@uokvax.UUCP (11/08/83)
#R:allegra:-192800:uokvax:5000010:000:1518 uokvax!rigney Nov 2 12:01:00 1983 /***** uokvax:net.politics / allegra!don / 5:25 pm Oct 31, 1983 */ How can anyone seriously believe that a 20-mile wide island can be a threat to the United States no matter where it is? They could not block strategic supplies for more than 24 hours before being blown to bits. That is a feeble excuse for invading. /* ---------- */ So you're advocating that we allow the island to be fortified or whatever, and then if it ever becomes a threat, either nuke it (bye bye to 100,000 Civilians - whether we use real nukes (unlikely) or just Arclight it) or stage an invasion against determined resistance after having to blow away its aircover. Either way casualties would be immense. As for size == importance, this surely indicates a lack of strategic knowledge. For example, how about Gibralter, the Bosphorus Straits, and the Panama Canal? Any place that sits astride a narrow path can be important. One of the reasons the Russians will NEVER let go of the Japanese islands they grabbed after WW2 is that these control entry to several of their Eastern ports, and could bottle them up the way Turkey has their Black Sea ports. Grenada occupies a similar (but not as important since there are other channels) position with respect to the Gulf of Mexico, someone pointed this out a few days ago. These facts neither support nor oppose the freeing of Grenada, except insofar as it is better to nip things in the bud for as little cost as possible. Carl ..!ctvax!uokvax!rigney ..!duke!uok!uokvax!rigney