Posted on 04/04/2005 5:29:57 PM PDT by wagglebee
Reagan and the Pope, along with Thatcher changed history forever.
He could have launched nukes. But, had us put candles in our windows on a cold December night instead, and wait them out until they collapsed from within based on their internal economic and social corruption.
I guess after all it was the right call.
This was pretty good reading until, "...one of the Pope's biographers, Carl Bernstein..."
Sorry, I draw the line at Woodward and Bernstein. I'll never trust one word out of either of their mouths again, after their appologetic comments concerning the Clintons.
Thag was a young, dumb 2nd Lieutenant in Germany in those days. Nov-Dec 1981 was a very scary time. Thag's Christmas leave (along with a lot of other peoples' leaves) almost got cancelled in mid-December because of rising tensions over Poland.
thanks for posting that. Very interesting. This should be front cover on every newspaper.
"Judge Clark told NewsMax bluntly, "We in the Reagan administration were prepared to recommend the use of force if necessary to stop such an invasion." "
You Go , Boy!
I was a young Captain (pilot) in the Strategic Air Command at that time.......so I know exactly what you went through. Not fun times.
I'll bet that Reagan and the Pope are doing a lot of reminiscing now : )
I don't like them either, but I've heard Bernstein speak admirably about the Pope a few times.
BTW, here is a link to the original article: A Holy Alliance
Yep. That's cuttin' it REALLLL close.
Poland has always been viewed as a strategic buffer between Germany (Western Europe) and Russia. Poland also has the very strategic port of Danzig (Gdansk) on the Baltic Sea. Napoleon laid seige to Poland in 1806-07 as a staging point for his failed Russian campaign.
Damnn I kinda remember the Poland and Martial law I was having surgery when I was a kid and only thing that was good on I thought back in da day was McNeil Hour on PBS and CBS evening news with Dan Rather
Okay I was only 12 year old LOL!
)))))PING((((((
Thought you'd like to see this, Sierra!
God bless you, honey!
So basically you heard that the Soviets were the good guys.
OH YEAH back when I was young girl growing in Liberial town like LA i thought Soviets were good guy and Ronnie was bad guy until I knew better LOL!
The headline does not seem to match the quote.
Who was prepared to recommend the use of force to whom ?
I'm not sure I believe this. For one thing, given the difference in levels of force strength ("order of battle") between NATO and the Warsaw Pact--or even just between the US and the USSR in 1981--there is not much the US could have really done to prevent an invasion if the Soviets were hell-bent on it. I remember the numerical differences back then (ca. 25 years ago) and they were downright scary. As I recall, the Sovs did not want a bloodbath to ruin economic ties with Western Europe (Poles, unlike Czechs, would resist), plus they were busy in Afghanistan. Getting Jaruzelski to crack down on Solidarnosc was a "cleaner" way of handling it. I don't know how reliable NewsMax is, plus why did this Judge Clark wait so long after the fall of communism to come out with this bombshell (no pun intended). Keep in mind that Poland was not a NATO member (just the opposite in fact) and our "allies" in Europe would have had no part in any action against the Soviets over Poland. Call me a doubting Thomas.
Poland was a Warsaw Pact (Soviet alliance) member; other NATO nations, the UK, West Germany, Spain and Italy, would certainly have been behind us.
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