I am sorely tempted to do a firey take-down of Jack Kelley's homage to Ronald Reagan this week. But, I'm going to decline to do so to avoid being offensively partisan--By virtue of beging President, Ronald Reagan deserves some respect.

So, I'll leave it at this: Ronald Reagan's role in the end of the Cold War was much more complex than Kelley alludes to. The real story actually makes Reagan look better than Kelly's simplistic caricature. Why he dumbs down a significant success won by nuanced means, I don't know. For some reason, the current taling points call for Republican operatives to portray Reagan as simple man who won great victoies with simple strategies. But to portray Reagan this way is to ignore the facts of events in the 80s. (similarly, the reagan encomiums of the past week ignore the butcher's bill in Central America--Justice O'connor's qutation from Micah implying that reagan "made others conditions your own" places her in the first rank of hypocrites)

If you want a better perspective on Reagan's Cold War tactics, read these articles from Slate:

Ron and Mikhail's Excellent Adventure:How Reagan won the Cold War

So, did Ronald Reagan bring on the end of the Cold War? Well, yes. Recently declassified documents leave no doubt about the matter. But how did he accomplish it? Through hostile rhetoric and a massive arms buildup, which the Soviets knew they couldn't match, as Reagan's conservative champions contend? Or through a second-term conversion to detente and disarmament, as some liberal historians, including Slate's David Greenberg, argue?

This is an uncomfortable position for an opinion columnist (andoccasional Cold War historian) to take, but it turns out that both views have their merits; neither position by itself gets at the truth. Reagan the well-known superhawk and Reagan the lesser-known nuclear abolitionist are both responsible for the end of that era[~]along with his vital collaborator Mikhail Gorbachev.

Read also this piece on how Reagan's Cold War strategies had far-reaching unintended consequences:

Reagan's Osama Connection: How he turned a jihadist into a terrorist kingpin

And for a more comprehensive overview of the exaggerations and stupidities of the last week, read this:

The Man, the Myths: Don't believe everything you hear about Ronald Reagan

Remember that history is complex, and the major players in it have complex motives, tactics and they leave behind legacies that are always impossible to quantify in a single sentence.
10:01:13 AM  #