That's it, I've heard all I can stand regarding what a great...

[whistle]

...President and human being Ronald Reagan was. Here is a summary of what people around the world thought and an assortment of links that disclose Reagan's legacy for our country. Read these and then decide whether or not Reagan should be immortalized on a $10 bill, or a dime or anywhere else for that matter.

Reagan's lasting legacy

Tuesday June 8, 2004
The Guardian

In the substantial press coverage of former US president Ronald Reagan's political career, virtually nothing has been said about the strong support he extended to apartheid South Africa. In the 1980s, South Africa descended into the darkest period in its history, as the black majority rebelled against its enforced exclusion from the political process and the apartheid regime responded with extra-judicial killings, abductions, torture and the aggressive destabilisation of neighbouring states.

Reagan's response to these atrocities was to resist economic sanctions against PW Botha's regime and to veto UN resolutions seeking to punish South Africa. The far-reaching US sanctions legislation, the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986, was actually passed over a presidential veto.

On one of the great moral issues of the last 30 years, Reagan stood squarely with the oppressors and on the wrong side of history.
- James Hamill,Leicester

I wonder whether the families of the tens of thousands murdered by death squads in El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua in the 1980s - which were armed and funded by Ronald Reagan and hailed by him as the "moral equivalent of our founding fathers" - are mourning the passing of the "great communicator"?
- Sean Healy, Geneva, Switzerland

I have yet to hear or read an obituary pointing out that during Reagan's term of office the US armed the mojahedin, one of whose groups that evolved into the Taliban, and supplied Saddam Hussein with "dual-use" items, including chemicals, that UN weapons inspectors found were used for military purposes. Would the "war on terror" now be necessary if it had not been for Reagan?
- Stephen Cowley, Cambridge

Tributes to Ronald Reagan bring out his simplicity of vision in successfully prosecuting the cold war. If we are learning lessons for the future, though, it is worth also remembering that the "Reagan doctrine", which declared every enemy of the "evil empire" a friend, led to unforeseen and sometimes terrible consequences. Not least in Afghanistan. Simplicity and certainty can sometimes lead to complex results.
- William Higham, London

Some thought should be spared for the victims of Reagan's invasion of Grenada who suffered his macho muscle-flexing. And some should be spared for the current and future generations of Americans, whom he saddled with the interest on and repayment of massive debts he incurred with his incredible no-tax-but-keep-spending policies.

Overseas, not many took him seriously, probably the result of a carry-over from his B-movie career and the unending stream of anecdotes about his faltering behaviour, including falling asleep during cabinet meetings.

Reagan gave the impression, confirmed in the autobiographies of his principal aides, that he neither set the agenda of the day nor really comprehended it. But his massive popularity drove the Republican party to repeat the experiment twice. President George Bush and Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger must be thankful to the Gipper.
- Khaled El-Bizri, Palo Alto, California

It was easy for us Guardianistas to laugh at Reagan, but perhaps his death will serve the world well. In their mourning, Americans may see what Bush lacks and reject him.
- Steve Mosby, Morpeth, Northumberland

<other links on Reagan war crimes>

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0607-08.htm
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Ronald_Reagan/Reagan_Guatemala.html
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Ronald_Reagan/WarCrimes_Reagan_iF.html
http://members.lycos.co.uk/Arrtus/reagan2.htm
http://www.rense.com/general53/ree.htm
http://victorian.fortunecity.com/brambles/499/Special_Reports/RonaldReagan/ronaldreagan.html
http://www.wakeupmag.co.uk/articles/cia8.htm

[BeFree]

1. And some DU'ers want us to show respect!

If anything, I feel sorry for RR. Karma and all that, ya know?

But when you consider what he did to so many innocents... well, the blood can't help but begin to boil. He didn't have to be so mean. He could have showed a bit of respect for the rest of the world's people. He didn't. Therefore he deserves no respect from us.