“But the Soviet leadership, with its eye on Reagan’s supposed recklessness, chose not to believe them.”
This is where our Leftist media enters the equation. They painted Reagan as “reckless” and could have caused a nuclear conflagration, as a result. The msm’s hatred of Republican presidents and their unflagging attempts to ruin their time in office does have consequences in this dangerous world.
Exactly.
In those days - CBS, NBC, and ABC almost completely dominated the televised media.
There was no "new media", no large talk radio audiences or programs, and no Internet.
If you watched the network broadcasts - it was even worse than today.
The MSM had absolutely no brakes on their reckless words; and no checks or balances to their complete bias and hatred of President Reagan.
It works both ways. In those times it was advantageous for the Russians to believe we were as crazy as they were. Candlelight Kumbaya vigils for Peace would have only earned their contempt.
Also, having a "Cowboy" elected got the Iranian hostages home, and quickly.
One cannot reason with someone who seriously wants to kill them. That is why negotitations with Iran and Mideast Peace Talks are such a futile self-defeating joke. Our adversaries have only contempt for cheap talk, and properly see it as weakness.
Moscow took a step back from the brink its own fevered imagination had created.
I read the entire article with an eye on current affairs. Substitute DailyKos or Democratic Underground for Moscow and the Soviet Union, and you have the same mentality and ideology. I've included some quotes above for illustration.
Never forget that the American Left represents as great a threat to our freedom as any force in history.
Even worse, whenever the author refers to the Soviets as the Evil Empire, he puts the words "Evil Empire" in quotes. But when he applies the word "evil" to America, he leaves it out of quotes:
"Even more convinced of Washington's evil intentions, Andropov stepped up Operation RYAN..." (My emphasis in bold added.)