Posted on 06/07/2004 5:47:49 AM PDT by kattracks
LONDON (AP) - Former President Ronald Reagan was remembered across Europe for his role in breaking down Cold War divisions and opening the path to independence for Soviet bloc nations. Arab nations recalled the Reagan days as a dark period.Russians recalled Reagan's tough rhetoric and how he launched a withering arms race with his "Star Wars" program that precipitated the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, which Reagan had famously dubbed an "evil empire."
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for launching liberal reforms in his country, remembered Reagan as an honest rival and friend.
"Reagan was 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, stop the nuclear race, start scrapping nuclear weapons, and arrange normal relations between our countries," Gorbachev said, according to the Interfax news agency.
"Reagan bolstered the U.S. military might to ruin the Soviet economy, and he achieved his goal," said Gennady Gerasimov, who was the top spokesman for the Soviet Foreign Ministry during the 1980s.
Former Soviet republics and other ex-East Bloc nations remembered Reagan as the American president who stared down Moscow and won, clearing the way for their independence and the 1991 Soviet collapse.
"President Ronald Reagan will be remembered in the hearts of all Latvians as a fighter for freedom, liberty and justice worldwide," Latvian Pesident Vaira Vike-Freiberga said.
The former U.S. president was not remembered so fondly in many Arab nations. The Reagan years marked the beginning of what Lebanon's culture minister, Ghazi Aridi, called a "bad era" of American Mideast policy that he said continues to this day.
Political analyst and former Syrian ambassador to the United Nations Haitham al-Kilani agreed.
"Reagan's role was bad for the Arab-Israeli conflict and was specifically against Syria. He was the victim of the Israeli right wing that was, and still is, dominating the White House," al-Kilani said.
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi said he was sorry that Reagan died without standing trial for 1986 air strikes he ordered that killed Gadhafi's adopted daughter and 36 other people.
Reagan ordered the April 15, 1986, air raid in response to a disco bombing in Berlin allegedly ordered by Gadhafi that killed two U.S. soldiers and a Turkish woman and injured 229 people.
"I express my deep regret because Reagan died before facing justice for his ugly crime that he committed in 1986 against the Libyan children," Libya's official JANA news agency quoted Gadhafi as saying Sunday.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office expressed sorrow over Reagan's death, calling him "a friend of the state of Israel."
Pope John Paul II learned of Reagan's death with "sadness" during a trip to Switzerland and immediately prayed for the "eternal rest of his soul," Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said. The pope, a native of Poland, also recalled Reagan's contribution to "historical events that changed the lives of millions of people, mainly Europeans."
Lech Walesa, the former Solidarity leader and Poland's post-communist president, recalled Reagan as a "modest" person whose opposition to communism was firmly rooted in a deeper hatred for inequity.
"When he saw injustice, he wanted to do away with it," Walesa told The Associated Press. "He saw communism, and he wanted to put an end to it."
In Berlin, Johannes Rau, president of the now-united Germany, said Reagan's challenge to Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall, made in a June 1987 speech before the concrete and barbed wire barrier, will "remain unforgettable."
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder sent President Bush a letter of condolence.
"His engagement in overcoming the East-West conflict and his vision of a free and united Europe created the conditions for change that in the end made the restoration of German unity possible," the chancellor wrote. "Germany will always have an honored memory of President Reagan because of that."
Politics aside, many world leaders past and present recalled Reagan's famous sense of humor.
"He was a great president who guided the Cold War toward a victory for freedom against communism," said Yasuhiro Nakasone, who served as Japan's prime minister from 1982 to 1987. "I attended five (Group of Seven) summits with him, and he would use his skillful humor and leadership to steer them to success."
Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and his wife joined the Reagans in crooning "When Irish Eyes are Smiling" at a summit in Quebec in the 1980s.
"He was an absolutely marvelous human being and a great and historic leader who will be remembered very favorably," Mulroney said.
Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher - Reagan's ideological soul mate and close friend - called Reagan "a truly great American hero."
In Central America, admirers praised Reagan for stopping the advance of communism but detractors said he pushed the region deeper into conflict.
In Nicaragua, Adolfo Calero, who opposed the 1980s leftist Sandinista government, said Reagan would be remembered as "a man of decisiveness and conviction, extremely pious and respectful."
But a Sandinista-allied official said Reagan will not be missed. "The country of Nicaragua surely will not ask for three days of mourning," said Tomas Borge, vice secretary of the Sandinista National Liberation Front.
El Salvador also fell within the Cold War ideological battleground for a Reagan administration determined to fend off leftist and communist-inspired insurgencies close to home.
"Reagan identified with our country, with its democracy and helped during the difficult moments," Salvadoran President Tony Saca said.
"You will know a man by his enemies..."
What a surprise! The Arabs did not like President Reagan.
But they loved the clintons.
I had forgotten about that big kiss planted on Hillary by one.
Frosting for the cake.
The Arabs are always on the wrong side of history and events. But logically, why would an optimistic, joyous, natural man like Reagan, appeal to people who worship death, reject freedom, and are mired in the Dark Ages?
Reminds me of a Leno joke: "Disney is planning to build a theme park in Iran! Really! The Science Fiction section will be about the 14th century!"
None of the Red Diaper babies over here did either.
These arabs are a bunch of "miswired" pre-human prototypes. They are wired backwards, and if they don't like it, then it is obviously good. They are in a world war to exterminate us. In the long run we have two choices. We can do to them first what they would do to us, or they will do it to us.
Dogs will bark.
The left is in a real quagmire with Reagan's death because they 1)want to celebrate 2)know it will reveal their nastiness before the American sheep who don't know how nasty they really are, 3)are all about to explode over all the great things being said about Reagan and 4) they know this is taking away from their Abu Ghaib attack and their assault on Bush.
Poor little lefties. Reagan had great timing in life, and in passing. One CNN despot was right about Reagan's timing, but just stopped short of bemoaning how Reagan is taking away from their anti-Bush assault.
They quoted Gaddafi Duck.
He and Reagan just weren't on good terms. Lots of invetive back and forth, shots fired between the militaires each was in charge with during some FON exercises...
Things got NASTY between the two of `em. It was one of the bigger blood feuds of the 1980s.
He and Reagan just weren't on good terms.
Absolutely; Gadhafi got the message after the Tripoli bombing.
Castro also has nothing but vitriol to say about Reagan, since Reagan was responsible for drying up the gravy train coming from the former Soviet Union.
"Mr. Gorvachev, tear down this wall!" Those immortal words made all the America-hating dictators quake in their boots.
I thought you were going to say "What a surprise ! Europe remember President Reagan fondly"
Arabs? The lie continues to be perpetrated. It is the Muslims who are terroristic not Arabs.
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