Fall of Communism

From Bwtm

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Time for a fresh look at a fateful year -- 1989. Americans are prone to take credit for the Soviet bloc's demise. From the vantage point of 20 years, we should be wiser. The reality is that "our" victory in the Cold War was not what we thought it was, nor did it happen the way we think it did. Most painfully, the myths we spun about it have hurt the world and ourselves. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-meyer3-2010jan03,0,4139270.story?

Howard Phillips of the Conservative Caucus branded Reagan "a useful idiot for Soviet propaganda." Conservative columnist George Will pounded away at Reagan for having changed. "Four years ago, many people considered Reagan a keeper of the Cold War flame," he wrote in 1988. "Time flies. For conservatives, Ronald Reagan's foreign policy has produced much surprise, but little delight." Even Reagan's vice president, George H.W. Bush -- when he ran for president in 1988 -- suggested that Reagan had gone too far in his diplomacy with the Soviet leader. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-mann6-2009nov06,0,5455746.story