Sunday, June 25, 2006

Iraqi echoes of Reagan's campaign in Lebanon

Iraqi echoes of Reagan's campaign in Lebanon:

"Iraq, as in Lebanon, suffers not from a lack of trained government security forces - more than 230,000 Iraqi security forces have been trained - but from a lack of willingness to fight on behalf of the Iraqi government. That willingness is something the United States cannot instill no matter how long it stays.

The longer we wait, the longer we will only continue to serve as a crutch for the Iraqi security forces. A phased redeployment, as advocated by people such as Murtha, should give Iraqi forces the motivation to stand up. And the United States would still maintain forces in the region by keeping ground forces in Kuwait and a carrier battle group and a Marine Expeditionary Force in the Persian Gulf.

Reducing troop levels in Iraq would also enable the U.S. to better fight the war on terror. It would allow United States to send more troops to Afghanistan, deal more effectively with Iran, better protect the homeland, and reduce the strain on our ground forces."

Reagan's vision needed now more than ever

Reagan's vision needed now more than ever

Miller Center: Ronald Reagan Oral History

Miller Center: Ronald Reagan Oral History

A Prayer at Bedtime

Make me lay my head down to rest,
To awaken refreshed and filled with zest.
The sun comes up each day, ready for us.
God's gift, not to be missed.
God's gift, not to be missed.

Meg Greenfield at Work

In the late 1970s, Roger Rosenblatt was a journalist at the Washington Post. He tells how his boss, Meg Greenfield, assigned him an editorial about an irate golfer who murdered a goose on the links when it interfered with his game. To make matters worse, he apparently ate the evidence. Rosenblatt wrote up the Post's position on the case, but he still needed a title for the piece. As he rushed past Greenfield's desk to submit the article he shouted, "What shall we call this?" Without looking up from her paperwork she replied, "Honk if you think he's guilty."

Subscribe to The Last Jeffersonian

If you've read enough political rubbish on the Internet, subscribe to The Last Jeffersonian. (TLJ is a free journal and a book you can purchase at Amazon.) You may not always agree with what you read, but you're sure to find the argumentation worth your time. Compare what you read here with what you see in the newsgroups, and see if you don't agree.

Who Was Ronald Reagan?

"The Last Jeffersonian gives Reagan his due as a politician, a patriot, and a political thinker." (Mark Burson, former Executive Director of the Reagan Library)

The Last Jeffersonian: Ronald Reagan’s Dreams of America, by Steven Greffenius, looks closely at Ronald Reagan the man, the politician, and the U.S. President.

Many Americans think of President Reagan as the last great conduit for the democratic principles held by Founding Father Thomas Jefferson. Mr. Reagan held high hopes for America, and believed fervently in the principles of free enterprise, individual freedom, and democracy.

Though his thinking was radical, and his approach to politics often described as "unconservative," Reagan was a political force to be reckoned with ¾ a leader loved and revered by Americans and others the world over.

The Last Jeffersonian paints a true portrait of Ronald Reagan, explaining his radical ideas in light of Jefferson's beliefs about politics and society.

No matter their political background or beliefs, most Americans would agree that Ronald Reagan is a multi-faceted character ¾ one who demands to be understood and respected. The Last Jeffersonian gives you that understanding, and entertains you in the process.

Whether you're a student of politics, a patriot, or an American looking for an interesting and enlightening read, The Last Jeffersonian leaves you with a higher understanding of this great man, his ideals, and his legacy. Mark Burson of the Reagan Presidential Library writes: "Here is a book that translates the essence of Ronald Reagan for the rest of us."

For a limited time, you may purchase The Last Jeffersonian new at Amazon's Marketplace for one-third off the usual price. Use the credit card and shipping address in your Amazon account to buy the book for only $11.95! Shipping is just $2.26, and the book is en route to you in less than two days. To go straight to the book's home page at Amazon, click here.

That's What Ronald Reagan Knew

Ronald Reagan Knew

Author Dick Lynch

Finding Nancy His Love and Soul Mate
Was What Gave His World Its Hue
Because of Nancy He Would Reach His Potential
That’s What Ronald Reagan Knew

As He Took The Presidential Oath Of Office
The Almighty Gave His Life’s Mission A Clue
Fight For Personal Freedom Around The World
That’s What Ronald Reagan Knew

What Makes The U.S. So Special
Are The Soldiers The Proud & The Few
Those Who Sacrifice & Bleed For Our Freedom
That’s What Ronald Reagan Knew

A Tragedy Saddens America
With The Loss Of The Challenger Crew
Time To Be A Father To An Entire Nation
That’s What Ronald Reagan Knew

Terrorism Rears Its Ugly Head In Beirut
Killing My Marines & Yours Too
We Must Protect America At All Cost
That’s What Ronald Reagan Knew

A Bullet Impacts Our Leader
His Faith In God Rightfully Grew
We Must Pray For John & Everyone
That’s What Ronald Reagan Knew

Take Down This Wall Now He Told Gorbachev
Who’s Predecessor Once Pounded A Shoe
Freedom’s Intrinsic To Citizens In Every Nation
That’s What Ronald Reagan Knew

Graceful In His Years Of Decline
His Life On Earth A Passing Thru
Eternity Is The World That Counts
That’s What Ronald Reagan Knew

The Commander & Chief Is Surrounded By His Troops
Giving President Reagan His Rightful Due
Our Nation And Children Are Safe Cause Of Them
That’s What Ronald Reagan Knew

Seated At The Right Hand Of The Father Our Creator
The President Flawlessly Delivers His Last Line On Cue
“My Fellow Americans God Is With Us”
That’s What Ronald Reagan Knew

Monday, June 19, 2006

Robert Heinlein Quotation

"Do not handicap your children by making their lives easy." - Robert Heinlein

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Reagan doctrine still influencing U.S. foreign policy - John Arquilla

Reagan doctrine still influencing U.S. foreign policy / His reliance on ideas over force brought to bear during negotiations with Soviets

Spokesman: Bush Polls Don't Rule Iraq War

Spokesman: Bush Polls Don't Rule Iraq War:

"'If I had known the president was going to be this incompetent in his administration, I would not have given him the authority' to go to war, said Biden, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

But Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Americans should be a bit more patient, citing progress including the recent death of terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi after a U.S. airstrike in Iraq.

'We do need to do a better job,' said Graham, who appeared with Biden on CBS' 'Face the Nation.' 'We are having progress in Iraq. Zarqawi's death is a sea change. If we're going to go on these shows every Sunday and talk about every mistake ever made in a war, we're going to lose this war.'"

Friday, June 09, 2006

The Reagan Presidency: The Role of a Lifetime (V)

Summer's greetings to everyone, near the beginning of June. I wanted to mail an issue of TLJ while this season of remembrance season is still with us. Ronald Reagan died on Saturday, June 5, 2004. This week marks the second anniversary of his death.

As summer of 2006 gets underway, please think of who among your friends, relatives, and colleagues shares your interest in Ronald Reagan and American politics. Think of one or two people, and forward this issue of TLJ to them with your compliments. If you received this copy from a friend, and you'd like to have your own issue delivered to your inbox, you can subscribe easily at http://techwritepublishing.com/tlj/. Thanks!

For June, we're happy to publish part five of Lou Cannon's biographical essay about Ronald Reagan. This installment looks back at Reagan's policy toward the Soviet Union. Quite a lot of time has passed since the Berlin Wall came down, enough time to see a new global war develop, a conflict just as deadly and difficult as the Cold War. We need Reagan's brand of competent leadership now. What a difference Reagan made during his time at the wheel!

The Role of a Lifetime (Part V), by Lou Cannon

I mentioned earlier a short story that Reagan wrote as a young man deploring the horror of war. As he expressed in Kansas City, Reagan was haunted by the notion that the United States and the Soviet Union could blunder into war if the policies of mutual assured destruction continued. Reagan felt that it was up to him to end this policy and prevent nuclear war. At The Washington Post, when he was running for president in 1980, Reagan acknowledged that the U.S. military buildup he advocated would lead a to an intensified arms race. But Reagan saw this as desirable because he believed the Soviets could not compete economically and would come to the bargaining table. To Reagan, unlike some of his boosters, the arms race was always a mean towards an end.

Reagan's detractors didn't see it this way. They feared that the combination of his polices and his rhetoric would incite the Soviets and perhaps ignite a war. Reagan said some harsh things about the Soviet Union, most of them true. Some Soviet leaders were even harsher in response. One of them compared Reagan to Hitler. But when Gorbachev, beginning with the Geneva summit in 1985, sat down with Reagan he learned to appreciate Reagan's candor and commitment. According to a Soviet participant at Geneva, Gorbachev was standing with a group of Soviet officials and one of them became highly critical of Reagan's positions and of Reagan personally. Gorbachev, showing irritation, interrupted. "This is the president of the United States, elected by the American people," he said.

Reagan respected Gorbachev, as well, and said after his return to the United States from Geneva that he was a different sort of Soviet leader. Already, without perhaps quite realizing it, the two men were creeping along the road to the first treaties of the nuclear era that reduced the arsenals of the superpowers and put us on the path to the end of the Cold War and the demise of the Soviet Union.

In February 1993, the Princeton Conference on the End of the Cold War brought together nine leading former U.S. and Soviet diplomats, including former U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz and Alexander Bessmertnykh, who had been the deputy Soviet foreign minister in the crucial last years of the Reagan administration. While they differed on details, all agreed that the Cold War had not ended automatically. The participants gave credit to Reagan and Gorbachev, none more eloquently than Bessmertnykh, who said of them:

"As for the common things, I would say that those two men were very idealistic. They each had their own ideals, which they had tried to follow all through their lives. Their ideals were not similar, but the dedication to those ideals was similar. They both believed in something. They were not just men who could trim their sails and go any way the wind blows... this is what they immediately sensed in each other, and why they made good partners."

Bessmertnykh scoffed at opinions in "the American press" after Reykjavik that Reagan had fallen short as a negotiator. "It was not true at all," he said. "Reagan handled negotiations very, very well. He might not have known all the details. He used little cards when he would come to details. He didn't like the formal part of negotiations... He would try to rush through this formal part, and then he would throw away the cards and then he would start talking the direct way. I was across the table at all the summits and followed this president for all those years, and I personally admired the man very much. He was a good politician. He was a good diplomat. He was very dedicated. And if it were not for Reagan, I don't think we would have been able to reach the agreements in arms control that we reached later, because of his idealism, because he thought that we should really do away with nuclear weapons. Gorbachev believed in that. Reagan believed in that. The experts didn't believe, but the leaders did."

Even though Reagan appreciated that Gorbachev was different - and better - than any of the Soviet leaders who had become before, his great goal remained to end communism as we knew it. As Condoleezza Rice, then a Russian expert, said to me in 1999, the Cold War was "frozen in time" when Reagan became president and called the Soviet Union an evil empire. "It was like there was this crazy aunt in the basement that no one wanted to talk about and that once you said she was there everyone said they knew it all along," Rice said. Reagan somehow did. Before he became president he told Richard Allen, who became his first national security adviser: "My idea of American policy toward the Soviet Union is simple, some would say simplistic. It is this: We win and they lose. What do you think of that?"

But that's not the whole story. Reagan and Gorbachev both knew that winning and losing would have no meaning if there were a nuclear war. Reagan knew there had been close calls on both sides during the years when Mutual Assured Destruction was the policy of both superpowers. Gorbachev knew this, too. So the oft-asked question of who won the Cold War - however it is answered - may not be the most important question. That question would be: How was it that the Cold War ended peaceably? And the answer would be that both leaders recognized the dangers of the alternative.

Next issue, Lou Cannon concludes The Role of a Lifetime, his biographical essay about Ronald Reagan. He considers Reagan's attitudes about using force to spread freedom and democracy beyond America's borders.

Links

You can buy two of Lou Cannon's books about Ronald Reagan in a boxed set: Governor Reagan and President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime (Second Edition). The set is titled Ronald Reagan: A Life in Politics. Click the link to go to Amazon's page for these books.

Also see the latest articles at the TLJ weblog, Opponents of the War in Iraq Need a Strategy and Bush Says U.S. Is Winning in Iraq, Sacrifices Ahead. For a long time now the weblog has served as TLJ's alter ego. Since the war has been such a significant event in our time, you'll find a lot of ideas and links about that issue there. Please have a look.

Please forward TLJ to anyone who might be interested, especially people interested in American politics. Also, please browse TLJ's home on the web, and make recommendations about what you'd like to see there. The site contains articles, speeches, links, past issues of this journal, and many other resources.

If you'd like to contribute an article, a letter, or anything else to the TLJ weblog or to this journal, please write to me at steveng@TechWritePublishing.com. TLJ welcomes your comments about what you read here, or your thoughts about any other political issue. Thanks!

Steven Greffenius is the author of The Last Jeffersonian: Ronald Reagan's Dreams of America. To learn more about the book, please visit http://techwritepublishing.com/tlj. To order a copy, please visit TLJ's page at Amazon.

Third Time - Peggy Noonan

OpinionJournal - Peggy Noonan