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Joseph A. Cannon: The collapse of communism: Reagan, Thatcher and the pope

Very interesting piece on important Western European history. And enlightening on what an elected President has to put up with from unelected Washington establishment advisers.

With all the celebrations on this 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, and the end of communist dominated eastern Europe, one has to strain to find any mention of those three figures who deserve the most credit. The important role of Pope John Paul II, especially, is being ignored.

I think gorbachev gets short shrift in this essay. Gorby had a far more active role in the end of the soviet union than to simply react. I remember his tour of east germany at their 40th anniversary; gorbachev virtually pulled the trigger on the Honecker regime. He put the wheels in motion and left, knowing how it would turn out. Anyway, it was heady times, indeed.

Joe Cannon has it completely backwards. Reagan was a witless warmonger. Gorbachev is the reason. He clearly saw the failure of his dictatorial system and wasn't going to raise a hand to save it. But if Reagan had confronted a more ruthless Soviet leader, we would today all be sitting in the nuclear ashes.

This version is, of course, the National Review neoconservative version of the fall of the Soviet empire. And, of course, not a word is mentioned of the economic reasons for the inevitable Soviet collapse. The Soviet empire was bankrupt, and not merely because of Reagan, Thatcher or the pope. The social uprising was caused in large part because the economies were collapsing, not just because of ideological differences. The Soviet empire would have collapsed regardless of who was president, just as the U.S. empire is experiencing its own collapse. Our foreign wars are definitely contributing to it, just as the Soviet's war in Afghanistan helped drain its resources. But the biggest reason behind the fall is corruption of the currency and out of control debt. All former empires have collapsed from the inside out, not the outside in.

Mr. Cannon, you for putting credit for the collapse or Communism where credit is due with President Reagan, Prime Minister Thatcher and The Pope.

A few years after the wall fell, an exhibit, including an actual section of the wall, toured the United States. The exhibit contained many photos of oppressive life under the Communists.

It also contained a strained explanation of how and why the wall finally came down. Why strained? Because no where in the exhibit was the name "Reagan" found. The exhibit creators could not admit Reagan played ANY role.

Earth produces NOTHING worse than an ungrateful man.

Lee Padron
Draper

Mr. Cannon, thank you for putting credit for the collapse of Communism where credit is due with President Reagan, Prime Minister Thatcher and The Pope.

A few years after the Berlin Wall fell, an exhibit, including an actual section of the Berlin Wall, toured the United States. The exhibit contained many photos of oppressive life under the Communists.

It also contained a strained explanation of how and why the wall finally came down. Why strained? Because nowhere in the exhibit was the name "Reagan" found. The exhibit creators could not admit Reagan played ANY role.

Earth produces NOTHING worse than an ungrateful man.

Lee Padron
Draper

Those who did the work never got the recognition? I bet few readers here have heard of Wildflecken or Fulda, Germany, Reforger or Wintex. Have you heard of the Berlin Brigade? Few have any idea of what SMLM or status of forces cards were.

Those Americans who served defending the Eastern Front of Western Democracy during the Cold War never get brought up in discussions on the fall of the Berlin Wall. Reagan did makes propaganda movies during the Second World War. He may have even gotten a paper cut reading a script. Reagan never served nor did Reagan ever face the Soviet Army in the bitter cold of Germany. Reagan would have believed Herman Nelson was a private in the army and not a heater prone to shooting out flames that was used by many a soldier in Germany out in the field fighting off frostbite.

Those who won the Cold War got to get up close and personal to inescapable numbing cold.

There was the Berlin Airlift that flew over 200,000 mission to supply Berlin during the Berlin Blockade.

There is more to the story than Reagan’s oration: “Tear down the wall.”

Yes, there is more to the story than Reagan, Thatcher and the Pope, but the greatest president of the 20th Century was in the right place and the right time and did the right things. God bless him and us for his great leadership at a critical time. Thanks, Mr. Cannon for a great article. You dumb dems are the ones who are blind to history.

The Wall is gone. Communism is not. Communism--totalitarian government--is alive and well. It is thriving in Russia, China, and in the United States.

Consider this:

Vladimir Putin leads Russia just as Kruschev, Lenin, and others did before him. Sure he "followed" the law by becoming prime minister. But did he really give up control of the country?

Democracy does not really exist in Russia. "Elections" are little more than placebos. The victor is already known before ballots are cast.

China is as communist as ever. 20 years ago it crushed oppostition in Tiannamen. But people don't talk about that now because China is "open" with the world. Besides, didn't communism fall with the Wall?

The Chinese Communist Party is stronger than ever thanks to American leaders like Nixon, Clinton, and Bush befriending it. It owns half of our national debt. It owns roughly half of our nation's consumer debt as well. It looks to me like it has the upper hand.

America has the PATRIOT Act, nationalized schools, and now nationalized industries (banks, cars, and health care soon enough). Looks like communism to me.

Communism didn't diminish with the Wall. It only grew.

I think you left out the bit involving how the soviet war in Afghanistan bankrupted the USSR, but then making that observation might comment on our efforts there.

One hero was Peter Fechter,,a 18 year old German youth who tried and failed to escape from this communist paradise..he lay bleeding beggng for help for one hour no one came to his rescue.a USArmy lt.was nearby and did nothing..later testifying that the orders of the day was to be indifferent..how quaint! Tell me how many Russians were put on trial a la Nurenberg for the killing of so many millions.tick tick tick..how many?....Nino