Reagan vs Bush

A liberal defends Reagan from the charge that his brand of foreign policy leads directly to Bush's. I know that the US had all sorts of alliances with some very nasty characters in the 1980s, which meant, in some inexcusable cases, tolerating human rights abuses. But the idea that Reagan would have authorized torture by his own administration is unimaginable to me. Similarly, that Reagan would believe that occupying and nation-building for a decade in Afghanistan and Iraq was a good idea. The man was interested in long-term peace, not constantly starting and fighting wars; he was viscerally opposed to inhumane treatment of anyone; and he withdrew from Beirut swiftly once he saw the consequences of long-term enmeshment. I simply cannot imagine a man of his generation calling the Geneva Conventions "quaint".