Posted on 05/14/2005 10:32:52 AM PDT by lizol
The Warsaw Pact, gone with a whimper
Malcolm Byrne and Vojtech Mastny International Herald Tribune
SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2005
Fifty years ago, with great fanfare in the Soviet bloc, the Warsaw Pact came into being. During its 36 years, it became one of the most feared military machines in history, the embodiment of international Communist aggression, and the sword of Damocles threatening World War III.
But fearsome as it appeared in the eyes of the West - and indeed in the experiences of millions of citizens of the Communist countries - was the Warsaw Pact ultimately as dangerous as its image suggested? With the availability of new documents from the archives of the pact's former members, answers to such questions are starting to appear.
At its outset, the pact did not even have a military function. Conjured up by Nikita Khrushchev as a putative counterpart to NATO, its original purpose was, ironically, to disappear - in return for NATO's dismantling. Western observers at the time accurately dubbed the organization a cardboard castle.
(Excerpt) Read more at iht.com ...
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