Berlin Wall Annivesary: Thanking Reagan vs. Thanking Gorbachev

On the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Angela Merkel stood side by side with Mikhail Gorbachev and thanked him, saying to him:

You made this possible — you courageously let things happen, and that was much more than we could expect.

Now I haven't seen much of the ceremonies so I have no idea if people like Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher have been given their credit for opposing the Soviet Union and communism. I sense not.

Here's what I don't get: So the Soviets built the wall, cut Germany in two, and enslaved them, much like they had already enslaved the rest of Eastern Europe and the Baltics. Finally there was one Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, who was under immense pressure from Ronald Reagan, and also under huge economic pressure as the Soviet Empire was collapsing from beneath him (also forced by Reagan in the arms build-up). Finally, Gorbachev gave up and was forced to end the enslavement. And what happens: he get showered with praise! One thousand times over!

I remember when Ronald Reagan was soundly criticized by most Europeans when he gave his 1987 speech saying "MR. GORBACHEV, TEAR DOWN THAT WALL." Most called him a war-monger. But it was precisely this pressure which helped bring it down. Sure Gorbachev deserves some credit for not stopping it, and for not sending in murderous thugs to beat the demonstrators, like they did in Hungary.

But to thank Gorbachev for the wall falling is like thanking a kidnapper for finally releasing you and not thanking the police who may have rescued you. I don't get it. Merkel must have a bit of Stockholm Syndrome.

But Reagan would not have cared. He kept a slogan on his desk that said:

There's no limit to what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit.

Well said Ronnie. Look what's been accomplished.