Not being able to keep up with US technology and defense spending certainly helped. Just because something happened doesn't mean it was inevitable. For some reason, a lot of folks can't wrap their head around that simple concept.
just a friendly suggestion, it would do you good if you came out of your shell. Congrats to Mrs. Shirin Ebadi, simpley awesome. Persian culture has always thrived thru difficult times, and this is another example of it.
Anyone who believes that Ronald Reagan did NOT play an instrumental role in the fall of the Soviet Union is a complete idiot. Note, I did not say he was exclusively responsible for it. But he had a tremendous effect. Of course, the foggy bottom traditonalists believe that "containment" worked. And some on the left probably, deep down in their heart, believed that if Gorbachev had met a less intransigent US president than Reagan, we might have seen democratic socialism with a human face in Russa. But the reality is Reagan placed enormous pressure on the Soviet Union. In every instance, he spoke and negotiated and played his cards from a position of strength. In the "other" missile crisis of the modern era, the SRBM crisis, it's hard to know how close we came to confrontation. But the fact is the Soviets backed down. And throughout his administration, Reagan communicated clearly that he was willing to spend significantly on defense, and if the Soviets' wanted to keep up, well, good luck. But even more important, it seems to me, was that he was absolutely relentless in his articulation that our system and political and economic ideas were superior. We were better, vastly superior, and he said it, over and over and over again. No American president, perhaps other then JFK, challenged the legitimacy of the Soviet system so directly. What kind of psychololgical affect, do you think this absolute certainty on the part of the American president -- a two term American president -- had on the dissidents in those countries?? He was one of the few Americans who, before the collapse of the Soviet Union, IMAGINED the collapse, and saw it as inevitable. Moreover, he was very sophisticated in his relationship with Gorbachev -- on the one hand the "evil empire," on the other hand, he dealt with Gorbachev as a guy he could negotiate with, but always negotiating from strength. Bottom line, the left can't stand the fact that a conservative govenor, who wasn't a career politician, from a very populous state, and who appears to be "unsophisticated" (read: "unintelligent") dealt with the critical issues of the day with certaintly and conviction that he was taking the right and correct path. Hmm....sound familiar??
Are you comparing Israel's response to the Munich tragedy with Carter's response to the Iranians? Seriously?
My tongue was firmly planted in cheek, my friend. Of course it's good that she won the prize. Now if they can get one giant boulder to do the job, they can stop collecting so many small stones.
You forgot about the fatwas. I'm sure I want to hear Cat Stevens feelings on this. As for the hostage crisis, it would've been avoided had Carter told the Shah to stay away from the US.