Posted on 06/07/2004 2:17:13 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
LONDON (AP) -
German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of Britain will attend the state funeral for Ronald Reagan.
On Monday, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan joined them and many others around the world in mourning the former president, praising his leadership during the Cold War.
But some commentators also said that as good as his optimism and charm were for the self-image of the United States, Reagan hatched conservative economic and foreign policies in the Republican Party that some Europeans still regret.
"Alongside his firm opposition to Soviet power there was a dangerous ratcheting up of military tension in Europe, subversion of change in Central America, growing support for expansionist Israeli policies in the Middle East and backing for Iraq in its war against Iran," the Irish Times said in an editorial. He also "left a legacy of huge budget deficits from bloated military spending."
Communist Cuba harshly criticized Reagan in its first public reaction to his death, saying Monday: "He who never should have been born has died."
"As forgetful and irresponsible as he was, he forgot to take his worst works to the grave," the government's Radio Reloj station said in an editorial broadcast across the Caribbean island.
Radio Reloj blasted Reagan's policies in Central America - backing a counterrevolutionary rebel army that fought against the leftist Sandinista government in Nicaragua, and supporting a conservative government that battled Marxist guerrillas during El Salvador's civil war.
"His apologists characterize him as the victor of the Cold War," the Cuban radio editorial said. "Those in the know knew that the reality was not so, but rather (he was) the destroyer of policies of detente in the overall quest for peace."
The popular 40th president died Saturday night at his California home at the age of 93 after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease. His casket was taken to a private family service at his presidential library, with a state funeral set for Friday in Washington.
Reagan's tough rhetoric and his "Star Wars" anti-missile program drew the Soviets into a costly arms race it couldn't afford, helping lead to the collapse of what he called the "evil empire." His 1987 declaration to the Kremlin at the Berlin Wall - "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" - was the ultimate challenge of the Cold War.
In New York, Annan said he was "deeply saddened" by Reagan's death and extended his "sincere condolences" to his family and the American people and government.
"President Reagan will be remembered for his leadership and resolve during a period of momentous change in world affairs, as well as for the warmth, grace and humor with which he conducted affairs of state," Annan said in a statement.
He helped end long-standing conflicts and create historic agreements on the reduction of nuclear arms, Annan said.
Officials in Britain's top two political parties, the left-center governing Labour Party and the opposition Conservatives, both praised Reagan's legacy.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Reagan was a "historic figure in the history of the United States and indeed of the West."
Michael Ancram, foreign policy spokesman for Conservatives, told the House of Commons that Reagan "left an indelible mark on history. He challenged the seemingly inevitable march of communism and he won. We have lost a champion and a friend."
Both British parties supported the Iraq war and Prime Minister Tony Blair's role as President Bush's top ally in the coalition. But many Europeans opposed the conflict, especially after no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq.
On Monday, some European commentators said exaggerated claims are being made about Reagan's presidency.
"He smiled and aw-shucked easily, a man for picket fences and pecan pie. ... And - oh yes! - he was that strong guy who 'won' the Cold War," wrote Peter Preston, the executive editor of The Guardian, a liberal newspaper.
But, Preston said, as Reagan was "upstairs snoozing or watching TV," the man who held his administration together was top adviser James A. Baker III.
In its editorial, The Financial Times praised Reagan for his "perennially sunny optimism" and the "wit and warmth" he used to charm his enemies "into something resembling reconciliation."
But it said his determination to cut taxes and raise defense spending led to a ballooning budget deficit and national debt.
"As a result, post-Reagan Republicans no longer seem to care about deficits," including Bush, the newspaper said. Reagan's "simplistic foreign policy was appropriate to the simple Manichceanism of the Cold War, but hardly to the more complex world in which Mr. Bush now has to navigate," it said.
In an editorial, The Guardian said Reagan's "rose-tinted view" of the past and the future of the United States that "made America feel good about itself makes others deeply alarmed."
The conservative Daily Telegraph praised Reagan as "a great American president - perhaps the greatest of the postwar epoch - who certainly deserves a stone-carved niche in that Olympus of commanders-in-chief atop Mount Rushmore."
Ignoring the leftists comments, I thought the Telegraph's comments worth capturing!
10 years of Reagan did more to defeat the USSR than 40 years of detente.
The leftist's mindset is staggering.
Well at least Castro knows who destroyed his Sugar Daddy!!
Well, that sounds like it's their problem, not ours!
Boy, this is the same liberal myopia as always. How does one oppose an evil expansionist dictatorship without ratcheting up military tension?
Beats me.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.