General Zinni on Sixty Minutes

Your history is failing you again. But, I digress. The fact of the
matter is that US containment policy was consistent from Truman
through the collapse of the SU in 1989. To ascribe it to one party or
the other is definitely revisionist.


But to give credit to Reagan alone -- per you- is not.

Surely you can do better than this.

Walt


I think that most readers would say I did do better. You started by
saying that Reagan was the worst president (a near tie, according to
you with Bush 43.) You asserted that he always took the easy way out.

That's all true.

Reagan approved illegal activity. He should have been impeached and convicted.


I responded with a number of Reagan policies that were significant.

Tax cuts don't show courage. Trading arms for hostages doesn't show courage.
Going behind Congress and the People's back doesn't show courage.

I
did not say that the SU collapsed because of a policy of
containment--you did.

You indicated that Reagan could take credit, which is simplistic and wrong.


I DID say that Reagan's reversal of the demilitarization, disarmament
policies of Carter were instrumental in the collapse.

Carter was only president for 4 years.

The reversal of
the trend started by Carter caused the Soviet response to demand more
than their strained economy could sustain. That was the Reagan policy
that I referred to.

The Minuteman missiles, the B-52 force, and the SSBN force were all in place
well before Carter took office. It was those type systems that the Soviets
couldn't match. It's true they finally imploded from trying to match us, but
Reagan just build on what went before -- and it wasn't a tough choice for him
to make. What would have been tough would have been to eschew the huge budget
deficits his policies produced -- but he didn't have the courage to do that. He
- always took the easy way out.


One should also note that the generational shift in Soviet leadership
from the 80-year old Stalinists to the new generation Gorbachev also
led to reforms that hastened the collapse.

Reagan's luck.

Glasnost and perestroika
opened the door to interactions that raised the expectations of the
Soviet people and created demand for change.


Thanks for suggesting it had little to do with Reagan.


Once again, complexity over simplicity leads to understanding of what
went on.


I'm quite familiar with all those themes.

Walt