I didn't. I approved of everything he did and tried to do. The INF treaty was the only reduction he authorized, while everything else was modernized.
The INF treaty defanged the nuclear freezers. Reagan was proved to have been right. That if you are to negotiate with tyrants, you have to negotiate from strength.
We never would have had the B1B or the B2 or the MX missiles, not to mention SDI, but for Reagan. Carter and the rats would have traded them away.
The main cuts have occurred subsequent to Reagan, with GHWB eliminating our tactical inventory...unilaterally. Xlinton and W slashing our Minutemen in more than half. And W all on his lonesome UNILATERALLY decomissioning our brand-new MX missiles...all while Russia deploys the Topol-M super missile...and keeps its full inventory of SS-18s. China and Russia remained armed to the teeth in regard to tacticals as well.
Reagan's motto, "Trust, but Verify" was, in his hands, a tool which would have ultimately resulted in fairly serious action upon detection of falsehood by the Russkies. Unfortunately, in Xlinton's hands, the verification went out the window...even when it was discovered that the Russians had clearly knowingly tried to cheat and hide S-22s in tunnels and such in Eastern Europe...only to be ratted out after the Soviet Union's collapse. Since the "new" Russia never admitted to these deceptions, despite Yeltsin's pledges, we should have actively kept the Eastern Bloc states from surrendering any of the nukes back to Russia. Should have kept the arsenal splintered.
And then bought it off their hands.
Paul, I’m not going to disagree with the agreements Reagan made. I merely address the desire on his part to destroy all nuclear weapons by some point in time.
I don’t care how well we try to avoid it, if we disarm at any point, we’ll be destroyed. It’s the one infalible fact of human history, nations that disarm are soon relegated to the ash heap of history.