New in paper

The last time oil-tankers were being shot up in the Persian Gulf, back in the 1980s, it was Saddam Hussein’s brutal tyranny in Iraq versus Ayatollah Khomeini’s revolutionary Islamist regime in Iran.

The United States backed Saddam because he was just another murderous thug, whereas the new regime in Tehran was an actual threat to American interests. It had overthrown Iran’s American-backed puppet king and wanted to spread its Islamist ideology across the region.

So, of course, Ronald Reagan’s administration chose Saddam’s side. It sent Iraq arms by clandestine means (because Congress wouldn’t authorize it) and even provided targeting information for Iraqi poison gas attacks on Iran. The Americans chose the “lesser evil,” but at least they knew it was evil.

Once in a while they would even say it out loud, quoting U.S. diplomat Henry Kissinger: “It’s a shame that both sides can’t lose.” But they never did anything about it, and after eight years of slaughter, the war ended in a no-score draw.

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: I just got a funny birthday card and a single pink rose delivered to me at work from a boyfriend who broke up with me last spring because I’d gotten too serious (in his opinion). I cried for days back then. He ignored his phone.

I don’t know how to respond to him now. Do you think he’s really had a change of heart, or has he just not gotten lucky for a long time and thought I might be open to hooking up on my birthday?

— Suspicious Ex, Downtown

Dear Suspicious Ex: You just received a birthday card, a single pink rose and no voice contact? He wasn’t taking any chances on being shot down face-to-face, but he definitely is taking a stab at possibly getting some action.