GORBACHEV ENDED THE COLD WAR

So, Gorbachev ended the Cold War.

Is that news to you? It's news to me.

MOSCOW (AP) -- Mikhail Gorbachev's magnetic brown eyes shine as brightly as ever, and he speaks with the same passion about the collapse of the Soviet Union as he prepares to mark his 75th birthday on Thursday.

The man who ended the Cold War and launched democratic reforms that broke the repressive Soviet regime continues to enjoy the limelight, globe-trotting on behalf of his political foundation and environmental group and taking part in charity projects.

The AP writer of this report, Vladimir Isachenkov, seems to have a crush on Gorby.

"Magnetic brown eyes shine." Yes, he appears to be under the spell of the former leader.

Isachenkov makes it sound like we should expect to see globe-trotter, limelight-seeking Gorbachev chatting with Joan Rivers on the red carpet at the Oscars on Sunday.
At a meeting with foreign reporters this week, Gorbachev blamed the United States for losing a chance to build a safer and more stable world following the Soviet demise.

"Ending the Cold War was given as a gift" to the United States, but it only strengthened its arrogance and unilateralism, he said. "The winner's complex is worse than an inferiority complex, because it's harder to cure."

Gorby claims that the USSR ended the Cold War as a gift to the U.S.

That is such a load!

What is he talking about?

The U.S. isn't arrogant.

The former Soviet Union was arrogant and that is why it fell apart under Gorby's watch.

In terms of a "winner's complex," the millions of people who were freed from Soviet oppression were the greatest winners in the implosion of the USSR.

I think Gorby's weird lashing out is indicative of an inferiority complex on his part, or senility.
While praised worldwide, Gorbachev has been reviled at home, where a majority of Russians hold him responsible for the Soviet breakup and subsequent economic chaos that impoverished millions.

He won a mere 1 percent of the vote in the 1996 presidential election; he hasn't run since.

Many still accuse him of caving in to the West. Anatoly Utkin, a senior researcher with the U.S. and Canada Institute, chastised Gorbachev for drastically cutting Soviet nuclear arsenals and agreeing to Germany's reunification without getting anything in return.

"Gorbachev didn't know the West. And the West didn't trust the nobility of his motives and coldly used him," Utkin said in a column in the weekly Argumenty i Fakty.

Gorbachev's record as a man who gave freedom to his land also was tarnished by some darker pages.

Blah, blah, blah.

St. Gorbachev gave freedom to his land. Sure he did.

I don't think he gave it. The people took it.

The Soviet Bloc crumbled because tyrannical regimes weren't the people's choice.

Poor noble Gorby was misunderstood by his people and the West exploited him.

What a martyr!
Gorbachev still bristles when he talks about the betrayal by his communist lieutenants who launched the August 1991 coup that briefly ousted him. The coup collapsed within days, encouraging the Soviet republics to declare independence and shattering Gorbachev's hopes of keeping them together in a looser federation.

This AP reporter sounds like a PR agent for Gorbachev. His spin is classic Soviet Union disinformation.

Gorby was betrayed, and that betrayal ultimately destroyed the USSR.

Are we supposed to regret that Gorby couldn't keep the Soviet republics together?

The liberal, "hate America" elite probably regret it.

I don't.

Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, who celebrated his 75th birthday in February, recently accused Gorbachev of having advance knowledge of the coup and waiting it out to see who would win.

"Yeltsin is a liar," Gorbachev snapped, rejecting the allegation as "sheer nonsense."

Looking back at the turmoil that preceded his resignation, Gorbachev says he has never regretted his refusal to turn to military force to prevent the Soviet collapse. He said that sometimes his "hands were itching" to use force, but he realized that could have led to a civil war and even a global nuclear conflict.


This good man deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.

Oops! He already was awarded the prize in 1990, because he "helped to bring the Cold War to an end."

Did Ronald Reagan get the Nobel Peace Prize for his role?

NO, only Gorbachev.

Obviously, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has a very limited perspective on how world events at the end of the 20th century played out.

Despite his age, Gorbachev seems as lively and energetic as before, giving the impression of genuinely enjoying life. "I like good dishes from all over the world. I have tasted them all and I still can't name a favorite," he said.

He rarely touches a fiction book, but reads a lot of history, philosophy and political science.

"I also watch a lot of movies, mostly on TV. I have gotten sick of (American) blockbusters and love Russian movies," he said.

I guess there's no chance of seeing Gorby's "magnetic brown eyes" shining at the Oscars.

Too bad.