# Is this parody an accurate summary of Iran-Contra? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 17, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-parody-an-accurate-summary-of-iran-contra/606564 "2011-12-17T20:18:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-parody-an-accurate-summary-of-iran-contra/606564/41 "2011-12-20T15:46:39Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Did too Thank you for that cogent and detailed argument. I think you’ve answered one of the OP’s questions. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-parody-an-accurate-summary-of-iran-contra/606564/42 "2011-12-20T20:54:07Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > All our leaders just said we had to live with the fear and hope the Russians love their children too. That wasn’t world leaders, that was [Sting](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/sting/russians.html) :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-parody-an-accurate-summary-of-iran-contra/606564/43 "2011-12-20T21:20:35Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Thank you for that cogent and detailed argument. I think you’ve answered one of the OP’s questions. proverbs 26:4 ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-parody-an-accurate-summary-of-iran-contra/606564/44 "2011-12-20T21:51:22Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > proverbs 26:4 Ah! The icy grip of your reasoning has frozen my heart, and I now too worship at the altar of the great Reagan. It’s a Christmas miracle! ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-parody-an-accurate-summary-of-iran-contra/606564/45 "2011-12-20T22:06:45Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Ah! The icy grip of your reasoning has frozen my heart, and I now too worship at the altar of the great Reagan. It’s a Christmas miracle! 😃 “Where trees grow from republican sod, and everyone prays to a proper right-wing God.” [Pans to altar and casket with painting of Reagan above] From the great family guy song “republicantown” ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-parody-an-accurate-summary-of-iran-contra/606564/46 "2011-12-21T15:42:43Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Reagan won the cold war To quickly touch on a few points of what’s a pretty complex subject: Read the Richard Rhodes book I mentioned above, it was illuminating on this sort of question. But not all of what follows comes from that book specifically. Some scholars have questioned whether the American defense buildup was indeed responsible for the collapse of Communism in the USSR (it was pretty close to collapsing under its own weight.) But it’s important to remember that the buildup was begun by that great American, James Earl Carter. Reagan _continued_ Carter’s buildup, but many of the weapon systems built in such numbers had been developed or approved under Carter, and Carter made the initial decision to build up defense spending as a response to Soviet developments, most notably the invasion of Afghanistan. In reality, the figure most responsible for ending the Soviet Union and the Cold War is, of course, Mikhail Gorbachev. The Rhodes book follows Gorbachev’s career in detail and describes many times Gorbachev needed to conceal his “radical” ideas from Kremlin hardliners before he finally held the seat of power, and the many compromises and concessions he made to move the talks with Reagan forward when the Americans balked (and, in the case of some of Reagan’s advisers, actively schemed to keep the _status quo_ in place). So IMHO a _more accurate_ answer to “Did Reagan end the Cold War?” would be to say “He helped, by continuing Carter’s policies and by not standing in Gorbachev’s way.” (And “not standing in Gorbachev’s way” consisted mostly of Reagan’s occasional resistance to the blandishments of his cynical manipulators during Reykjavík and other negotiations.) . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-parody-an-accurate-summary-of-iran-contra/606564.md?page=2)