Word: factor
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Other military experts, like Washington's Anthony Cordesman, consultant and author of the forthcoming book The Iran-Iraq War: 1984-1987, counsel more caution. Says Cordesman: "The key factor is to allow Iran to determine the level of escalation. The U.S. must not be perceived as escalating the conflict." U.S. military planners last week were hewing closely to Cordesman's line and planning for contingencies based on the nature of any foreseeable Iranian provocations. If Iran were to fire upon an American vessel with its Chinese-made Silkworm missiles, for example, the U.S. would most likely seek to destroy...
...echoed those 444 days in 1979-81 when Iran held 52 Americans captive in the U.S. embassy in Tehran. "The American presence in the gulf has turned back the clock to the years of the hostage crisis," said an Iranian journalist. "That is the atmosphere now." But a major factor in the new frenzy was the congressional hearings on the U.S. arms-for-hostages deal with Iran, which Iranians followed closely by newspaper and radio. The public revelations of those dealings last November and the fresh airing given the scandal on Capitol Hill over the past three months revealed Khomeini...
...counteract this perception, most of the Democratic candidates are investing heavily in what can be called the "muscle factor." Like novice sportswriters, they festoon their rhetoric with images denoting oomph. They strain to adopt positions that appear to be gutsy. Richard Gephardt promotes his restrictive trade policy with the argument that a "made-in-the-U.S.A." approach will "score knockout victories again." Free traders, he says, "lack backbone." Joseph Biden uses the America's Cup races as a metaphor for the nation's standing, then declares, "To say we want to compete means we are already losing. I want...
Looking tough is a special challenge for George Bush, burdened as he is with the image of the eternal second banana. Lately the Vice President has sought to counter murmurs about the "wimp factor" by citing his captaincy of the Yale baseball team and his World War II combat record, as well as his Government posts. "Everything I've done in my life has equated with leadership," he says. But Bush undercuts his effort by his refusal to adopt any firm positions of his own. His principal rival, Bob Dole, exudes a can-do aura that allows him to project...
...factor that cannot be changed is geography. If Moscow simply pulls some of its tanks and troops out of Eastern Europe, this will do little to ease the long-term threat that the overwhelming Soviet numbers could pose to Western Europe. What is required is a basic change in the way the Soviet Union deploys its military forces: a shift from an offensive-force posture to one that is structured for defensive purposes. Senator Gore, who visited Moscow in June, reports that the Soviets seem willing now to discuss deployment tactics. "They offered to talk about restructuring of forces...