Gorbachev ended the Cold War.

[genius]

If Reagan and Bush I had had their ways, we would have all been blown to pieces.

[EV1Ltimm]

1. and i quote...

"Reagan is most remembered for heroically defeating Mikail Gorbachev in a Mono-y-Mono knifefight in Red Square before a crowd of thousands of hostile communists, even after having been replaced as president. When Gorbachev's lifeless body hit the floor, it sent out a shockwave, engulfing his minions in fiery cave-ins and toppling the Berlin wall."

[genius]

2. I love that

[Crunchy Frog]

3. I agree that Gorbachev

was largely responsible for ending the Cold War, the Nobel Committee reached the same conclusion, hence his Nobel Peace Prize.

I do give Reagan some real credit for recognizing that Gorbechev was "for real", and seriously engaging with him to de-escalate the Cold War and encourage the reforms.

He got a Hell of a lot of flack from his fellow RWers who were in complete denial, and believed he was being taken in by a ruthless, single minded, Leninist dictator. You only have to read the newspaper collumns from those days.

After the Soviet Empire fell, the RW re-wrote history to give Reagan all the credit. Most notably they forgot his friendly engagement with Gorbechev, and attributed everything that happened to Reagan's earlier bellicosity, weapons buildup, Star Wars, and namecalling, (ie "Evil Empire).

Gorbechev himself has always had a very high opinion of Reagan.

[genius]

5. Excuse me. Reagan wanted WWIII. Gorbachev ended it single-handedly.

I had regular nightmares about nuclear wars while Reagan was in office. See "The Day After" for the world Reagan tried to create. Gorbachev kept trying to negotiate with Reagan and then Bush and then ended it on his own.

[Crunchy Frog]

8. I agree.

My little sister used to have nightmares about nuclear war during Reagan's presidency. However, he did make the choice to engage with Gorbechev, and toned things way down during his second term.

Anyway, I would urge you to read some of Gorbechev's own writings to get his take on Reagan.

By the way, I am not trying to defend Reagan in any way, but his choice to move from confrontation to engagement once Gorbechev came to power is the one thing that I do give him some credit for.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

4. Lech Walesa ended the cold war

A ship yard worker in Gdansk who brought Poland's economy to a crawl and had Gorby give up using his military to keep communist governments in power in satellite states had more to do with taking down the Soviet Union than either Reagan or Gorby.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

6. Pope JPII and Polish Solidarity worked 10 years to bring down the wall

all reagan did was make a speech in front of it 2 years before and claims credit for it....jays'us

[PROGRESSIVE1]

9. Bingo!!! Reagan and Thatcher had nothing to do with the fall.....

of the U.S.S.R.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

7. German President Johannes Rau gave the Pontiff credit for the reunificatio

of his country.



Vatican, Mar. 08 (CWNews.com) - As he met with Pope John Paul II (bio - news) on March 6, German President Johannes Rau gave the Pontiff credit for the reunification of his country.

"Germany owes her unity to Poland and to the action of the Pope, without which she would still have a long road to go toward reunification," Rau said. Rau was speaking extemporaneously during a formal reception, as he presented the Pope with a miniature of the Brandenburg Gate: a symbol of divided Germany.

[Pepperbelly]

10. All are wrong ... it was the Beatles.

Putin himself admitted it. When the Beatles first hit, the Soviet government banned their records but somehow they got in and the Russian people got a glimpse of a freer, more vibrant and liberated existence. That glimmer of light did much to help free the spirit of the people.

Next thing you know, they're growing their hair and wearing blue jeans.

Rock on.

[Snellius]

11. Absolutely. Lennon and blue jeans.

It's so absurd they credit Reagan with the overthrow of the Soviet Empire. It was, in fact, the cultural revolution that Reagan stood against.

[Cascadian]

12. Communism would have collapsed any with or without Reagan.

It was already on it's last laps before Reagan even became president. The whole infrastructure was stagnant and corruption was rampant in the Soviet Union and it's satellite countries. It was already crumbling. It just irks me that people say that Reagan brought the wall down and ended Communism. No he didn't. Gorbachev had more to with putting an end to the Cold War and making changes in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Gorbachev saw the system had to change and also saw that Bush and Reagan would have wanted World War III. Gorbachev had to find a way to ease the tension.


John