THOSE BASTARDS, THEY KILLED KENNAN!:

Crucial Cold War secret (Paul Kengor, January 13, 2008, Washington Times)

It was 25 years ago, on Jan. 17, 1983, that the blueprint for American victory in the Cold War was quietly formalized by President Ronald Reagan. It came with the roar of winter, by the name of NSDD-75, probably the most important foreign-policy document by the Reagan administration, institutionalizing the president's intention to undermine the Soviet communist empire. [...]

Tamely titled, "U.S. Relations with the U.S.S.R.," the opening to NSDD-75 established two core "U.S. tasks:" First, "To contain and over time reverse Soviet expansionism ... . This will remain the primary focus of U.S. policy toward the U.S.S.R." And, second, "To promote, within the narrow limits available to us, the process of change in the Soviet Union toward a more pluralistic political and economic system in which the power of the privileged ruling elite is gradually reduced."

Mr. Pipes fought for this language, insisting the document articulate the central aim of reforming the Soviet Union. "The State Department vehemently objected to that," recalls Mr. Pipes today. "They saw it as meddling in Soviet internal affairs, as dangerous and futile in any event. We persisted and we got that in."

Destabilization, it's what we do.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 13, 2008 10:05 AM