>> The Cold War didn't end because the Soviets couldn't continue in the face of his wrath. It ended because they found out that the toys they had accumulated over the previous decades were not up to snuff to take Europe and their economy was tapped dry.
We've had this argument before. You were wrong then, you're wrong now. You can't, after Reagan said up front that he could bring the USSR down, claim that, "Oh, yeah, it happened but not because of Reagan." He not only said he COULD bring them down, he said precisely how he WOULD, and even his own personnel didn't believe him, and some opposed the action. But he was strong, he knew what he wanted to do, and without the slightest doubt, Ronald Reagan single-handledly ended the Cold War.
Now, as a liberal, you will never publicly admit it. But you know it is true.
As Fred Kaplan wrote in Slate, ". . . did Ronald Reagan bring on the end of the Cold War? Well, yes. Recently declassified documents leave no doubt about the matter." (Of course, as liberals do, he also gave Gorby undue credit).
It was Reagan's vision that saw the opportunity and his courage that allowed him to capitalize on it. He was very specific about the opportunity -- almost no one else saw it, certainly no liberal did -- that the USSR could be enticed into an arms buildup that would break them. To then follow it with making it happen was greatness in every respect.
No, you'll never give him credit because you are an absolute ideologue. But history is not confused on this. Even with the bogus Nobel, every objective person knows who ended it. |
