Please Freepmail me to be added to the Ollie North ping list.
Posted on 06/18/2009 9:10:45 PM PDT by jazusamo
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- "What are you Americans thinking?" asked the young woman in perfect, if slightly accented, English. She was wearing a name tag with "Marie" in both Cyrillic and Latin print and had greeted us pleasantly when we ducked out of the rain and into her store to buy postcards and mementos for our grandchildren. Her question about American "thinking" came in the midst of a conversation about how dramatically life in Russia had changed during her 27 brief years.
"What do you mean?" I replied.
"What are you Americans thinking about freedom?" Marie asked.
Somewhat perplexed, I answered: "We think individual liberty is wonderful. Why do you ask?"
Her response was a reproach: "Why isn't America supporting freedom for the people of Iran?"
My meandering rejoinder about "uncertainty" and "unique challenges" was unsatisfying to both of us -- a tawdry example of my inability to criticize our government while in a foreign country. A few hours after this encounter, our ship sailed into the Baltic Sea, past the nearly abandoned base at Kronshtadt, once a stronghold of the no-longer-mighty Soviet navy. Seeing its now-dilapidated structures and rusting hulls was a reminder that we have not always had a problem explaining what America stands for.
Twenty-two years ago this month, President Ronald Reagan stood at the Brandenburg Gate, in Berlin, boldly pointed to the barrier dividing the city, and declared: "There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe … Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
President Reagan's words were the knockout punch that buckled the knees of the Soviet empire. While some may think it was just a great line in a speech, Marie and tens of millions of other once-captive people know better. The challenge Mr. Reagan issued in the heart of Europe precipitated the end of a tyrannical system that had bullied, enslaved and murdered three generations of human beings for more than six decades. It wasn't just a sound bite. It was a consistent part of what Ronald Reagan said he wanted to achieve as president of the United States.
The "tear down this wall" line in President Reagan's 1987 speech in Berlin was the culmination of a clearly articulated course of action that began in the opening days of his administration. Despite near-unanimous opposition from the so-called mainstream media, foreign governments, elected Democrats, and even some in his own party, Mr. Reagan was always clear about what he believed to be best for our country: ending the threat of totalitarian communism. In May 1981, at the University of Notre Dame, just weeks after nearly being killed by an assassin's bullet, Mr. Reagan fearlessly predicted that in the years ahead, "The West will not contain communism; it will transcend communism."
Mr. Reagan's wholesale rejection of more than three decades of failed Cold War foreign policy was met with horror by the political elite, media pundits and striped-pants diplomats around the world. But people behind the Iron Curtain were listening -- and heartened. At home, the president set out to make his stated goal a reality.
He described the Soviet Union to be an "evil empire" and declared that the U.S. would build a 600-ship Navy and start work on a defense system to protect the American people from attack by Soviet ballistic missiles. In 1983, he sent the U.S. Marines, U.S. Army Rangers and the 82nd Airborne Division to Grenada to prevent American medical students on the island from being taken hostage.
Because his plain, unequivocal talk educated and inspired the American people, their representatives in Congress voted overwhelmingly to give him what was needed to get the job done. Allies and adversaries knew what the United States stood for and what to expect. Sadly, that's no longer the case, and that's why Marie asked her question in St. Petersburg.
In the aftermath of last week's fatally flawed elections in Iran, President Barack Obama responded by saying, "I can't state definitively one way or another what happened with respect to the election." That was hardly a resounding statement of support for freedom. No wonder Marie asked why America isn't supporting freedom for the people of Iran. The Iranian people undoubtedly are wondering the same thing. And Barack Obama's message to them is that "it's not productive, given the history of U.S.-Iranian relations, to be seen as meddling."
It's a good thing for people in this part of the world that Ronald Reagan never thought of U.S. efforts to help people escape tyranny as "meddling."
Please Freepmail me to be added to the Ollie North ping list.
What a contrast between that great man who took office in January of 1981 and the fool who is behind the wheel now.
Amen to that!
President Reagan was a gentleman and put our country first.
Thanks for the ping to another excellent Oliver North article jaz. I appreciate it.
He's waiting to see which side will win before he supports it. That will only earn us the hatred of the losing side and the contempt of the winning side in Iran.
I thought this was about Helen Thomas.
Well said, he’s a fence sitter and hasn’t a clue how to lead our country.
He's right. Remember how the intelligentsia were just aghast that this country bumpkin cowboy could ever UTTER such a thing? It was just, well, uncouth!!
Same group now in the pocket for Hussein. This time they approve of the White House backing the bad guys.
“What a contrast between that great man who took office in January of 1981 and the fool who is behind the wheel now”
There is also the contrast of those who served during those administrations.
I think it was one of Reagan's speechwriters who told a story about how many people in the administration, especially in the State Department, were trying to remove the "tear down this wall" line from Reagan's Berlin Wall speech. It is horrifying to think of how many people wanted to erase what is likely Reagan's most memorable and powerful line in his career.
That’s right, the cowards were horrified he’d say such things but he never wavered.
Now those cowards worship a Zer0. Traitors all!
Ronald Reagan understood that if WE will not stand for freedom for others, we will lose it for ourselves.
With freedom comes responsibility.
Unfortunately we have fallen from the Great Communicator to the Great Apologizer.
Nope! You do not understand.
I remember the battles he was in in early 1980’s. He helped fight the Sandanista’s. I remember all too well when they put him on the stand to testify in the Iran/Contra thingy. After the Dem’s put in the Bolen Amendment to stop funding the Contra’s.
Just before Bush (the Elder) bowed out to Slick Willie I wrote George H.W. Bush and told him that the thing he did in his term that I respected him the most for was pardoning Ollie North. I still have the response I got from his staff.
Ollie is a patriot. Will never believe otherwise.
I understood better later, when I first read Terry Reed’ book “Compromised”. Then the pieces fit.
If Ollie had the change again he would be running AK’s and ammo into Iran for this one.
“He’s right. Remember how the intelligentsia were just aghast that this country bumpkin cowboy could ever UTTER such a thing? It was just, well, uncouth!!”
It was EVERYONE! In Peggy Noonan’s book where she writes about her time as a speech writer for Reagan, she said every speech had to get reviewed by everyone in the cabinet. If it was said in a speech - it became policy.
That line, IIRC, was originaly by Reagan and not a writer. BUt, everytime it got reviewed (by the State Department, Defense, etc.) it was deleted. The speech would be revised, Reagan would add it back in, more revisions, etc.
I think even his aid warned him in the limo on the way to the speech not to add it back in!
Well put, simple and right on the mark.
Opps - see that this point was already mentioned. Note to self to read ALL of the posts first! Anyway - God bless Ronald Reagan. And looking for someone to take his spot to correct this travesty in office!
I believe we agree on Ollie, I was referring to Zer0 in that post.
OK, sorry, I did not understand.
Obozo is a total Zero, and a Lying Kenyan Commie Traitor.
zilch zip nada
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