Not sure what planet you were living on back then, but your attitude of blaming our country irritates the hell out of me. "Increased tensions"? Spare me! Spare us all the guilt trip every liberal in and out of government is using right now.
Russia had a substantially larger military, more missiles, and a puppet state just off our Florida coast. Russia has been known throughout history to take (eastern Germany, Chechoslovakia, etc) what they wanted unless stopped by the only thing they ever responded to...force. Those missiles in Europe and the strengthening of our Jimmy Carter (the first one, not the one in the oval office right now) weakened military had a lot to do with the USSR downfall.
Their real demise was their communist/socialist economic system which collapsed under it's own weight. The very same kind of system our current federal government is trying their darndest to put in place right now.
That famous speech you mention was in large part made possible by a strong U.S. military and our missiles pointed at the head of the former USSR.




Reply With Quote