Posted on 10/23/2005 7:20:54 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
WASHINGTON: The US and Russia had both emerged victorious at the end of the Cold War, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said.
"I would not be making a mistake to say that perestroika won. It succeeded," he said during a celebration of the 20th anniversary of reforms that ultimately ended the hostilities between the two nations.
Mr Gorbachev also reflected on the current state of world affairs, noting the role of the US as the sole superpower.
"America has a right to be a leader," he said, adding that "this leadership should be realised through partnership, not domination".
Former US president Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Colin Powell were among about 200 guests who attended what Mr Gorbachev described as a "meeting of old friends".
Mr Gorbachev is credited with engineering a series of reforms, called perestroika, in the Soviet Union that led to the fall of communism.
In 1990, he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work.
"It was obvious from the beginning with perestroika blooming in Russia, there was a new openness, a new sense of freedom, there was a new leader," Mr Clinton said.
"He will go down in history as a person who changed the world for the better."
Won in the sense that they're no longer ruled by the Soviets I guess.
Hey Gorby! I made a stain on a blue dress
shaped just like that one on your forehead.
or
Ted Turner and another 3-some he reveled in being part of.
In a sense, the Russians did win as they're not living under the yoke of Communism anymore. But Gorby will still go down as one of history's biggest losers.
And there are no American soldiers at the Baghdad airport.
"The US and Russia had both emerged victorious at the end of the Cold War"
End?
He is absolutely right. When the communists lost the proletariat definitely won. I doubt Gorbachev was cheering, though, when the Berlin Wall came tumbling down. I s'pect he didn't feel the euphoric shudders many of us felt.
Too bad for Gorbachev he couldn't hold on a little longer. Clinton would have saved the Soviet Union's ass.
He would have needed some money to donate to Clinton's reelection fund as well.
Gorbachev was trying to keep the Soviet Union intact. He failed completely. The man I respect is Yeltsin, who stood on a tank and voiced his defiance to the leaders of the Communist coup that overthrew Gorbachev. For his defiance of the Soviets, Yeltsin was later treated by our media as a buffoon, and hated by the Left.
I remember very clearly visiting a bookshop and reading, quickly, through Gorbachev's book describing the need for perestroika (restructuring) of the Soviet Union. In that instant I saw the world we live in would change. It was an event like landing on the moon, AND MORE, in what it portended for the peace and safety of people living at that time.
This is a great man, in the right place at the right time.
Everybody wins! Isn't that special. Maybe we can all get brightly colored ribbons, shiney little plastic trophies or a gold star to enhance our collective self esteem.
Why is Gorbachev so chatty lately?
This is roughly the sixth article I've seen on him in just under 2 weeks.
The Soviet Union won the Cold War!
>>>I s'pect he didn't feel the euphoric shudders many of us felt.
So he moved to San Francisco to embrace this euphoria.
:P
BS! He was trying to save Communism! As for the Nobel Prize, they wouldn't give it to Reagan so they gave it to Gorby instead.
>>>>He would have needed some money to donate to Clinton's reelection fund as well.
You act like he hasn't.
The Gorbachev Foundation
http://www.gorby.ru/en/default.asp
::I just love how he has his site hosted in Russia yet he lives in San Francisco.::
.
Russia is now losing its population.
Russian women are leaving Russia in droves, along with the future children they will bare, for greener pastures abroad.
Life expectancy in Russia is going down.
National population down to as little as 80 million in just 50 years perhaps.
Now just WHO won WHAT, I wonder..?
.
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