That seems familiar - change a name and it's about how it is now: <Osama was a fellow supporter of the anti-Soviet Afghans, channeling aid from SA to them through Pakistan. He wasn't a US puppet and wasn't even in Afghanistan then much less leading the anti-Soviet campaign. >
He still isn't in Afghanistan, because just as then, it wouldn't be good for his health.
<Gorby realized he couldn't win an arms race with the US. Reagan's willingness to wage an arms race was a necessary component of him reaching that realization.> The arms race had been won by the USA decades before that. A lot of the time, the USSR was copying USA technology, so it was hard for them to be ahead. They couldn't copy before the USA had invented it. Gorby only had a certain amount to spend - he had to make choices. It wasn't really relevant what the USA was doing as that race had been lost longgggg before Gorby was put in charge.
<you British empire types really like the idea of redrawing national boundaries.> That has always been popular, everywhere, since humans were chimps, and before. If you consider the USA, you will see a LOT of boundary drawing over the last 300 years. Have you heard of Sioux? Davy Crockett? Alaska, Louisiana? North Korea? That's the nature of geopolitics. Sometimes it's mercantile, sometimes military conquest, sometimes mutual agreement [Austria/Germany, East German/West Germany, Maori/The Crown]. Japan used to own Taiwan, but the USA changed that.
People individually redraw their national boundaries too, by voting with their feet.
Mqurice |
