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To: instantgratification
I see, it wasn't a foreign power, no, it was Rome.

Poland Plans Ronald Reagan Statue - Polish admirers of Ronald Reagan plan to raise a statue of the former U.S president in Warsaw, where he is revered for his role in the downfall of communism in Europe. The 3.5-metre (3.8-yard) stone-and-bronze statue will stand across from the U.S. Embassy, the head of the group raising money for the memorial said on Monday. The group includes Poles living in Poland, Canada and the United States. "Reagan was the person who defeated the communists and opened the way for freedom in Poland," Janusz Dorosiewicz said. "The statue is a way for his legacy to live on."

137 posted on 05/09/2007 1:36:56 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
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To: Tailgunner Joe

Can we say “foreign aid”?

Look the reality is the KGB had begun planning a major crackdown before Ronald Reagan was even elected. So called “glasnost’” and “perestroika” were the first steps to that crackdown. That has been confirmed by Bukovsky, who had access to all the Soviet archives (now resealed) when Bukovsky put the communist party on trial.

Economic indicators in the USSR were flat from the late 1960’s. Not a big surprise in a country where only one in ten people actually works, where work is viewed as a punishment and alcoholism was rampant due to CPSU policies in the 1970’s.

Communism did not collapse because of Reagan, or his policies. The one thing that he may have done to hasten the demise was the “evil empire” speech. Getting major play in the Soviet press, this had an opposite effect. People began to wonder why they were afraid.

With no Solidarnosc, there would not have been a collapse of the Eastern bloc. WIthout a Yeltsin, the coup may have succeeded. At least in the short term.

Personally, I think the USSR was doomed in any event. The collapse of the Eastern bloc just hastened the demise.


138 posted on 05/09/2007 1:45:42 PM PDT by instantgratification
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