The real legacy of Ronald Reagan
However, we should bear in mind that he was responsible for many of the policies currently being enthusiastically pursued by George W Bush, the son of his vice-president.
For example, Reagan embarked on the militarisation of space Star Wars in contravention of international treaties, while at the same time launching his country on its greatest ever peacetime rearmament.
Reaganomics dramatically increasing military spending while at the same time introducing huge tax cuts for the richest 2% doubled the national debt and created an overwhelming budget deficit.
In the Third World, the IMF and World Bank used Reaganomics as an ideology to impose a policy known as structural adjustment which wrecked the economies (not to mention the education and health sectors) of many poor countries.
He set an example for employers when in 1981 he summarily fired 12,000 air traffic controllers who were legally on strike. Wages in the US have declined in real value ever since and workers' rights have been set back 50 years.
No doubt, Ronald Reagan's undeniable charisma played a role in his popularity. Indeed, in 1984 polls showed that a majority of those who re-elected him disagreed with his policies.
As soon as he was inaugurated as president in 1981, Reagan introduced the concept of a 'war' on terrorism. One year later he removed Iraq from the list of terrorist states and subsequently sent Donald Rumsfeld secretly to meet Saddam Hussein in Baghdad. On Reagan's behalf, Rumsfeld negotiated the delivery of weapons, intelligence and loans, despite the fact that they knew that Saddam was using chemical weapons against his own population.
Only a few diehards, like Margaret Thatcher, still give him credit for the collapse of the Soviet Union. Among academics there is broad consensus that the real causes lay in the structure of the Soviet economy and widespread dissent in Eastern Europe.
Even more damning is the fact that Reagan was found guilty of unlawful acts (amounting to acts of terrorism) by the world court for his mining of Nicaragua's harbours.
His administration's support for the Contras both legally and, after congress forbade it, illegally resulted in the murder and torture of innocent men, women and children (the UN called it genocide in 1999) in an attempt to overthrow the democratically elected government in Nicaragua.
He also enthusiastically supported the murderous regime in El Salvador, and illegally invaded Grenada because he didn't like the government that the population had democratically elected, thus setting a precedent for illegal interventions. It is a pity that this side of Ronald Reagan's legacy seems to have been completely forgotten.
Diarmuid Kennan,
Leifsgade 14,
2300 Copenhagen S,
Denmark.
