Reagan Mourned in Former 'Evil Empire'

The Moscow Times ^ | Monday, June 7, 2004. | Vladimir Isachenkov and Jim Heintz

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Monday, June 7, 2004. Page 1.

Reagan Mourned in Former 'Evil Empire'By Vladimir Isachenkov and Jim Heintz
The Associated Press

	AP Reagan and Gorbachev saying farewell after talks in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1986.

He stunned the Soviet Union with his tough rhetoric, calling it an "evil empire" whose leaders gave themselves the "right to commit any crime." His famed "Star Wars" program drew the Soviets into a costly arms race they couldn't afford. His 1987 declaration to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at the Berlin Wall -- "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" -- was the ultimate challenge of the Cold War.

Ronald Reagan's determination to destroy communism and the Soviet Union was a hallmark of his eight-year presidency, carried out through a harsh nuclear policy toward Moscow that softened only slightly when Gorbachev came to office.

Reagan, who died Saturday at the age of 93, is vividly remembered in Russia today as the force that precipitated the Soviet collapse.

"Reagan bolstered the U.S. military might to ruin the Soviet economy, and he achieved his goal," said Gennady Gerasimov, who served as top spokesman for the Soviet Foreign Ministry during the 1980s.

Reagan's agenda toward Moscow started shortly after the start of his first term -- and marked a major departure from the mild detente of the Jimmy Carter administration.

In 1981, Reagan backed his rhetoric with a trillion dollar defense buildup. U.S.-Soviet arms control talks collapsed, and the two nations targeted intermediate-range nuclear missiles at each other across the Iron Curtain in Europe.

The deployment of the U.S. missiles in Europe rattled the Kremlin's nerves, because of the shorter time they needed to reach targets in the Soviet Union compared to intercontinental missiles deployed in the United States.

In an even bigger shock to the Kremlin, Reagan in 1983 launched an effort to build a shield against intercontinental ballistic missiles involving space-based weapons.

The Strategic Defense Initiative, or SDI, dubbed "Star Wars," dumped the previous doctrine of Mutual Assured Destruction that assumed that neither side would start a nuclear war because it would not be able to avoid imminent destruction.

Even though Reagan's "Star Wars" never led to the deployment of an actual missile shield, it drew the Soviets into a costly effort to mount a response. Many analysts agree that the race drained Soviet coffers and triggered the economic difficulties that sped up the Soviet collapse in 1991.

"Reagan's SDI was a very successful blackmail," Gerasimov said in an interview. "The Soviet Union tried to keep up pace with the U.S. military buildup, but the Soviet economy couldn't endure such competition."

Gorbachev said Sunday he was distressed by Reagan's death.

"I take very hard the death of Ronald Reagan, a man whom by fate sat with me in perhaps the most difficult years at the end of the 20th century," Gorbachev told reporters at the Gorbachev Foundation, a non-governmental analytical institute that he has run since 1992.

Despite Reagan's often-forceful statements against the Soviet Union, Gorbachev said he also had a personal warmth that bolstered their relations. "In terms of human qualities, he and I had, you would say, communicativeness, and this helped us carry on normally," Gorbachev said.

"But when you talk about friendly relations in politics, it's not the friendship of schoolmates, of the Arbat," he said.

"I deem Ronald Reagan a great president, with whom the Soviet leadership was able to launch a very difficult but important dialogue," Gorbachev said earlier Sunday on Ekho Moskvy radio, Interfax reported.

Gorbachev was quoted as calling Reagan "a statesman who, despite all disagreements that existed between our countries at the time, displayed foresight and determination to meet our proposals halfway and change our relations for the better."

Gorbachev listed Reagan's accomplishments as helping to "stop the nuclear race, start scrapping nuclear weapons, and arrange normal relations between our countries."

"I do not know how other statesmen would have acted at that moment, because the situation was too difficult. Reagan, whom many considered extremely rightist, dared to make these steps, and this is his most important deed," he was quoted as saying.

Yelena Bonner, the widow of Soviet dissident Nobel Peace Prize winner Andrei Sakharov, praised Reagan for his tough course toward the Soviet Union.

"I consider Ronald Reagan one of the greatest U.S. presidents since the World War II because of his staunch resistance to communism and his efforts to defend human rights," Bonner said in a telephone interview from her home in Boston. "Reagan's policy was consistent and precise, and he had a great talent of choosing the right people for his administration." Former Soviet dissident Vladimir Bukovsky, 61, remembered Reagan fondly for his humor and his toughness. "His phrase, 'evil empire,' became a household word in Russia," said Bukovsky, who now lives in Cambridge, England. "Russians like a straightforward person, be he enemy or friend. They despise a wishy-washy person."

Retired General Vladimir Dvorkin said that trying to field a response to Reagan's Star Wars had "certainly contributed" to the Soviet economic demise but argued it didn't play the decisive role.

"The Soviet economy was extremely inefficient and nothing could save it," said Dvorkin, a senior Soviet arms control negotiator during the 1980s.

But Bonner said her husband -- who had played a key role in designing Soviet nuclear weapons -- believed that deploying U.S. missiles in Europe was necessary to bring the Soviet rulers back to the arms control talks. In December 1987, Reagan and Gorbachev signed a treaty that for the first time eliminated the entire class of intermediate-range missiles.

"Reagan and Gorbachev helped end the Cold War," Gerasimov said.

Associated Press writer Gerald Nadler in New York contributed to this report.

[arthurus]

Wonder where all the actors were to pay him tribute.

Really, the Great One doesn't need the defilement.

[jmstein7]

BUMP!

[Aquinasfan]

Former Soviet dissident Vladimir Bukovsky, 61, remembered Reagan fondly for his humor and his toughness. "His phrase, 'evil empire,' became a household word in Russia," said Bukovsky, who now lives in Cambridge, England. "Russians like a straightforward person, be he enemy or friend. They despise a wishy-washy person."

I'm hearing that the PC party line now is that the Soviet collapse was "inevitable." Yeah, right.

"I take very hard the death of Ronald Reagan, a man whom by fate sat with me in perhaps the most difficult years at the end of the 20th century," Gorbachev told reporters

Interesting choice of words for a convert to Orthodoxy.

[Soaring Feather]

Thank You.

[Corporate Law]

Bo Derek (still beautiful in her 50s, IMHO), Morgan Fairchild and Tom Selleck were visitors in California, in addition to the Governor.

[risk]

Thanks much for your comments, CW and ML. I've heard so many liberals disputing even the potential science of "star wars." It reminds me of a Reagan comment I just heard repeated by Michael Deaver to Charlie Rose:

"At one campus meeting, a student told Reagan that it was impossible for people of Reagan's generation to understand young people. [The student said] 'You grew up in a different world. Today we have television, jet planes, space travel, nuclear energy, computers.' Without missing a beat Reagan replied, 'Your right. It's true that we didn't have those things when we were young. We invented them.'"

--Also Posted by tame in #29 on this thread.

We'll invent what we need to protect Democracy. It's what we do. And those who "know too much" to believe we can do it should think about President Reagan's faith before they discount ours.

[KangarooJacqui]

I find it amazing you can now get more objective reporting about our own President from the Moscow Times than the American press.
,br> Agreed... but I'd replace the word "amazing" with "sickening."

Barf bags at the ready, Kangaroo Jacqui

[VOA]

Reagan, who died Saturday at the age of 93, is vividly remembered in Russia today as
the force that precipitated the Soviet collapse.

Poor deluded Russians. Hopefully they'll get some helf from The Ministry of Truth
at the DNC soon.
So they can learn that RR had nothing to do with the end of the USSR.

(end sarcasm)

[PigRigger]

"But Bonner said her husband -- who had played a key role in designing Soviet nuclear weapons -- believed that deploying U.S. missiles in Europe was necessary to bring the Soviet rulers back to the arms control talks. In December 1987, Reagan and Gorbachev signed a treaty that for the first time eliminated the entire class of intermediate-range missiles.."

And President Wanna Be was against this course of action feeling it was to aggressive and might provoke war between the two countries. He supported unilateral disarmament and containment; a strategy that would likely have kept the Soviet Empire intact.

Forward 20 years; Mr. Kerry supports a similar approach to the WOT - containment and dialog. He has learned nothing. He is as naive now as he was than.

[Preech1]

"In Death, Reagan has the final victory over the evil empire..."

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[VOA]

Even though it's a "chick" radio show, I was listening to "Satellite Sisters" on
KABC radio in the background.
One of the hosts lives in Moscow and said that one of her husband's coworkers, Sergei,
worked "security" (KGB) at the USSR Embassy in Washington, D.C. for five years.

Following Reagan's death, Sergei showed up the home of the radio host and tearfully
recalled that Reagan had sent him a letter congratulating him on the
birth of one of his children.

[Eastbound]

"Wonder where all the actors were to pay him tribute. Lots of foreign leaders, boy scouts, 5,000 people men, woman & children an hour - NO ACTORS - except Arnold Schwartenegger."

I think I'll give Hollywood the benefit of the doubt here. Maybe -- just maybe they didn't want to show up en masse because it would have detracted from the solemnity of the funeral. Or if they did show up, there must have been a mutual agreement by the media and live video crews not to shine the spotlight on them. I think Arnie was there as a government official. It's also possible that many actors/actresses and show biz people went through the line disguised and unrecognized, sans coteries.

And it is just possible that Hollywood thought it best to have their own private and unheralded memorial for Ron, as co-workers might do. I can understand that.

If I'm wrong, I'm going to be more than just a little dis-appointed.

[Fiddlstix]

BTTT

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

And it is just possible that Hollywood thought it best to have their own private and unheralded memorial for Ron, as co-workers might do. I can understand that.

Yes, I am sure that is the situation!!! /sarcasm!!!!!

[Eastbound]

Aw Geez! If I believed they wouldn't, I'd never go to another movie. It wouldn't surprise me if Hollywood decided to throw one of the biggest and bashiest events ever at some point. Not only to honor Ron, but to bring luster and respectability back to it's own profession. Maybe even a benefit. But then, I'm an old guy and still remember the old movies and the codes that went along with them.

[Destro]

Rome's empire as a precursor to the British East India Company? I never thought of it in that way. Thanks.