8 Matching Annotations
  1. Mar 2024
  2. Jan 2024
    1. all talk of ‘Global Zero’ – the world without nuclear weapons sought by both Gorbachev and Reagan – stopped

      Bush un-did a lot things that Reagan and Gorbachev tried to do.

    2. Moreover, Gorbachev added bitterly in 2014 interviews, the Americans began to betray him even before he left office.

      Bush Sr. not only betrayed Gorbachev but also the efforts put forth by Ronald Reagan.

    3. By November, the risible sum of $1.5 billion was on offer, with Baker telling Gorbachev: “It’s hard cash. Take it before we change our mind.”

      Only $1.5 billion was offered by Baker to Gorbachev.

    4. “To hell with that! We prevailed. They didn’t. We can’t let the Soviets clutch victory from the jaws of defeat.”

      Bush lied to Gorbachev.

    5. Had Gorbachev known of this back-to-the-future ‘containment policy,’ he might have acted less trustingly when the issue of German reunification arose

      Americans and Bush betrayed the trust or naivete of Gorbachev.

    6. Gorbachev’s “longevity in office,” Taubman writes, “may well have been extended if he had received more help.”

      Bush's inaction and unwillingness to provide aid to Russia helped prematurely end Gorbachev's rule and lead to the ineffective and corrupt leader in Boris Yeltsin.

    7. And while Bush (acting more out of concern for American than Iraqi lives) was right not to pursue Saddam’s Army back to Baghdad, his encouragement of insurrection by Iraqi Shi’a and Kurds provoked only a brutal crackdown and abiding sense of betrayal

      Bush's action in Iraq was viewed as betrayal of words by Iraq and Saddam Hussein, who later persecuted Iraqi minorities Shi'a and Kurds with impunity.