From: dadams@cray.com (David Adams)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc
Subject: Re: Republican (American?) Arrogance makes
Date: 19 Aug 92 18:18:49 GMT
Reply-To: dadams@cray.com
Organization: Cray Research, Inc.

In article 6sz@news.cso.uiuc.edu, hausman@caffeine.cen.uiuc.edu (Kevin Hausman) writes:
|In article <1992Aug19.033655.5007@midway.uchicago.edu>, sug6@usite-next.uchicago.edu (Patrick Sugent) writes:
||> In article <1992Aug19.015027.11470@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> pdl2r@galen.med.Virginia.EDU (Peter D. Lauren) writes:
||> >In article <92231.213054A735FJO@HASARA11.BITNET> <A735FJO@HASARA11.BITNET> writes:
||> >>"I know what is right for the world, and I know what is right for the USA
||> >>Outside the USA it is felt that the USA did not change a thing
||> >>in East Germany, USSR, etc.  It just happened and Bush was only a
||> >>spectator like everybody else. (If some person deserves some credit
||> >>than it is Gorbatsjov)
||> >
||> >The thing is that Bush does not have a coherent  domestic policy and is
||> >prepared to do anything to get reelected.  Hence, the republicans try to
||> >hoodwink the American public into believing that Bush was a major player
||> >in bringing down communist dictatorship in Europe.  As a European, you
||> >were closer to the events and can see the republicans' claim for what it is -
||> >ridiculous propagander.  
||> 
||>   Well, his opinions are just that, his opinions.  To assume that they,
||> in any way, represent the views of all Europeans or all European literature
||> is just mistaken.
||> 
||>   On a personal level, I know people from England, France, and even Croatia
||> that disagree with the above opinion.  As a regular reader of _The Economist_,
||> I can assure you that it gives credit to the policies of Republicans and
||> their influence on the end of the Cold War (so at least one bit of
||> European literature provides some credit to the Republican policies.)
||> 
||>   Certainly giving Gorbachev and Yeltsin their full credit is just.  However,
||> to pretend like U.S. policies had no effect upon the Cold War victory
||> seems a bit odd.
||> 
|
|I don't think that most people would disagree that Republican foreign policy
|and such during the past 12 years had an influence on the collapse of eastern-
|European communism.  However, to say that Bush should be given a large amount
|of credit for its fall is wrong.  I happened to be in Europe (West Germany)
|when the Wall came down--it's true that Europeans generally approved of the
|Bush administration's handling of the whole affair, but that handling consisted
|basically of STAYING OUT OF THE WHOLE MESS.  I don't know what Bush was 
|saying in this country, but over there one heard very little about America's
|position on the whole event, and what one did hear was that America would
|help and support the reunification of Germany, but that the details would have
|to be decided by the Europeans.
|
|Bush was smart not to gloat at the time the Wall came down and to keep his
|hands out of it.  I'll give him that.  But to say that he had a major role
|in any of this is ridiculous.
|
|
|Kevin Hausman
|CCSO Workstation Support
|hausman@caffeine.cen.uiuc.edu

What you miss it that at the time the Eastern block began to fall apart
the American role in the struggle was over.  At that point all we had
to do was wait.  What did we do?  How did we win the cold war?  What
was our role?

We did not give up in the cold war and arms race until it was over, until
that race had crippled the Soviet Union and brought it to the brink.

Wether or not the "Star Wars" program was ever serious or not it brought
The Soviet Union to its knees!  And even while they were at the brink
our little war with Iraq was clearly to all observers, the dress-rehersal
for the war we had designed for the Soviet Union.  It seems they got the 
message!  What has happened to world prices on Soviet equipment? 


Where were the Democrats when all this was happening?  What were they
doing?  They were trying to give away our victory moments before it
happened!  They were trying to break the Star Wars program.  

They all act now as if they would have done the same thing the President
did in the Mid east crisis etc., and on and on, but what were they saying 
when he did it?

"HELL NO WE WON"T GO!"

Now they would like to take the credit, as if anyone would have done the
same thing.  

enbal@aeroj.tamu.edu (James L. Heilman) writes:

|Thus far in the campaign, George Bush has blamed Congress,
|the press, and now his cabinet for his problems.  I find
|it rather strange that someone who touts his ability to
|deal with Gorbachev, Yeltsin, Kohl etc., can't handle
|Tom Foley, Nicholas Brady and Richard Darman.  What a
|weenie.

|James L. Heilman
|_________________
|enbal@aeroj.tamu.edu

And all this time your precious Tom Foley, Nicholas Brady, Richard Darman,
and Co., were clearly trying to stonewall and hold the presidency in
seige.  They call this bi-partisanship?  Throw them out!



---
--David C. Adams  Statistician  Cray Research Inc.  dadams@cray.com
___________________________________________________________________
       member--Minnesotans for Global Warming.