Dear George

You don't want to listen to me? How about Ronald Reagan:

"Regimes planted by bayonets do not take root."

"If history teaches anything, it teaches self-delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly."

"Any system is inherently unstable that has no peaceful means to legitimize its leaders. In such cases, the very repressiveness of the state ultimately drives people to resist it, if necessary, by force."

"Our military strength is a prerequisite to peace, but let it be clear we maintain this strength in the hope it will never be used, for the ultimate determinant in the struggle that's now going on in the world will not be bombs and rockets but a test of wills and ideas, a trial of spiritual resolve, the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish, the ideals to which we are dedicated."

From Reagan's "Evil Empire" speech in 1982.