Today I spent about three hours in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Among many things, I was struck by how many of Reagan's statements about freedom, democracy, and America's role in advancing it are so fitting for our current struggles with Islamic terrorism. I suspect that Reagan might regret today that despite his firm stand against communism, he did not do more to recognize and curtail the early indications of the terror outbreak that was to come.
On the occasion of a 1987 memorial service for American servicemen killed in an Iraqi missle attack on the U.S.S. Stark (apparently Iraqis mistook the ship for an Iranian target), Reagan said these words:
It's a summons that, as a nation or a people, we did not seek, but it is a call we cannot shirk or refuse -- a call to wage war against war, to stand for freedom until freedom can stand alone, to live for liberty until liberty is the blessing and birthright of every man, woman, and child on this Earth.Full text here.
The photo is from my favorite exhibit—an actual portion of the dismantled Berlin Wall.
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