Calling the Islamic Reform Bluff

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When I wrote recently about how Ronald Reagan's confrontation of Communism could and should serve as a model for confronting today's global jihad, many pointed out that the man himself had amassed a less than stellar track record in the 1980s against the fathers and elder brothers of today's mujahedin. After all, they said, he cut and run after the bombing of the Beirut barracks in 1983. He cozied up to the mullahs in the Iran-Contra imbroglio. Above all, he breathed life into today's jihadist Frankenstein by helping the Afghan mujahedin fight and, ultimately, defeat the Soviet Union.

While the idea that Reagan fostered the growth of today's jihadist movement is grossly …