European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 25, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse Page a the stars and stripes sunday december 25,1988 Reagan prepares for final curtain popularity und med by Confra crisis Washington up1 president Reagan predicted at the beginning of 1988 Hal he would have a Socko third acl and a triumphant fourth Quarter Al inc Windup of his presidency. In View of his personal popularity As he prepares to step Down from the highest office in the land he May be on target. The 77-year-old president remained in remarkably Good health keeping up a regimen of regular a Misc and rest. Although there Are Only a few specks of Gray in his hair his age is beginning to show Bui the aging process was not As dra malic is that of so Many of his predecessors on whom he Job look an enor Mous physical and mental loll. In inc Twilight of his presidency Reagan s greatest assets his liability and his Good humor remained intact. He appeared to Bear no grudges Al though his antagonism toward the democratic opposition was apparent in ideology and political philosophy. As inc Days went on he became More and More nostalgic and senti mental. All of his appearances were farewells filled with tributes and chants or tour More years under siege for a Good part of 1987. When the Iran con Ira scandal engulfed his administration Reagan made a comeback this year and has survived the ordeal not totally unscathed but not demolished by the credibility crisis he suffered. The so called Teflon Coaling and his Irish Luck have Given Reagan a fairly smooth ride since 1�81. From the standpoint of always being above the fray he stands with president Eisen Hower who left office in 1961 after eight years As an admired Leader. As he headed into his final year in office Reagan rallied the troops and assured them that he still had new Heights to reach and would not be a lame Duck. Reagan promised during the 1980 Campaign to balance the budget in four years. By 1988, he had helped trans form the United states from inc larg est creditor nation to the largest debtor nation. ". The budget deficit at the end of the year was $155 billion and inc National debt was estimated it s2.6 trillion. Nevertheless he established a Gener Al atmosphere of Prosperity although the pockets of poverty were glaring with 3 million homeless in the country and 20 percent of the children deemed living below the poverty line. But he could boast loudly and did during the presidential Campaign of the longest peacetime economic expansion in history and the creation of is.5 million jobs. In foreign policy Reagan will be in Mem Crea for his moves toward a new detente with the soviet Union and the ending of the cold War. The relentless Hawk who called the soviet Union the evil Empire in 1983, had come full Circle and decided that the United slates could do Busi Ness with Mikhail Gorbachev the new Kremlin Leader who wanted to Bury the Hatchet. If Reagan has one lasting contribution in history it will be the signing Laic last year of the intermediate Range nuclear forces treaty in Washington and he ceremonial implementation of the ratified pact at the May Summit is Moscow. There is an irony Hal Reagan who Clung to a military buildup throughout his two terms will claim As his biggest Success inc arms reduction Accord with the soviets that eliminates a class of nuclear weapons. He did not achieve his larger goal of a so percent Cut in the superpower Long Range strategic missile Arsen Albut he set the stage for negotiations in the Bush administration. The reduction of East West tensions triggered a global sigh of Relief with two nuclear titans deciding to Back off and to Lay the groundwork for peaceful coexistence. Once fervent . Support for contras now waning Washington a after seven years Lens of thousands of lost lives and almost $300 million in spending the United states is looking for a Way out of resident Cagan s Contra policy in Nicaragua although president elect George Bush s policy on. The nicaraguan rebels remains Short on detail con Ira opponents and supporters alike agree that 1988 probably will be viewed As the beginning of the end Abr the Kaiui sandinista insurgents. "1988 was a year in which the policy. Essentially ended because the contras by the end of the year. Had become a non Factor said rep. Mickey Edwards k-okla., who led the losing fight in the House of representatives to continue military Aid for the contras. Basically the War has come to a Hall said rep. David Bonier d-mich., a Leader of anti Contra forces in the House. The rebels who began the year with As Many As 16.000 fighters launching attacks inside Nicaragua ended it Wilh most of their forces huddled under makeshift Black plastic shelters in Camps along the. Honduras Border. ". -. Throughout his presidency Reagan made the con iras a priority in his foreign policy. " critics said the president s fervent support of the rebels whom he equated with America s founders and his fear of soviet influence in the Region blinded him to latin America s larger economic problems and locked the United states into a no win policy. But Reagan s supporters said military Force was the Only Way to move the sandinista toward fulfil Ling promises of democratization made to the organization of american slates after they took Power in 1979. After years of military Aid to the rebels both Cov Ert and overt the House voted narrowly feb. 3 to Cut off the flow of weapons heeding the Call of Costa rican president Oscar Arias Sanchez and House speaker Jim Wright a Texas to give peace a Chance. The contras last military support ran out feb. 29, and no direct . Weapons Aid has flowed since. The democrats not wanting to be seen As abandoning the rebels entirely later approved 175 Mil lion in humanitarian Aid food Medicine and inc contras. A shaky cease fire look effect in 1988 in the Sandi Nisla Contra War. Estimates now Are that some 10,000 rebels unable to mount an offensive but unwilling to disband remain encamped just inside Honduras with As Many As 30,000 family members. Assistant Secretary of stale Elliott Abrams a Champion of Contra Aid contends that the withdrawal of . Military Aid contras has emboldened the sandinista. There is More repression Fin Nicaragua More subversion in Al Salvador essentially undiminished soviet Aid Levels Abrams said. The Only solution he said is to revive the to the nicaraguan government. But few of Washington s Ley players still share Abrams hard Tine stance Bush s designated Secre tary of stale James Baker known As a pragmatism is unlikely to begin his relationship with Congress witha sure fire confrontation. And the new House elected in november will be slightly More Anli Contra than the last. Something will have to be decided by april 1, when the last of the non lethal Aid to the rebels expires. Lessons of life after Kent state University s hockey seasons suspended by a Huing incident coach Bill sati Taj wanted to Leach his players that the loss was not a bit so Sutaj int Ltd participants in an adult aay Tate program la show the players Rathul real problems Are. Above Garret Fern a gels to know some of those roubles u he watches Thelma Mun Kamyar of Kent Ohio work the puck at the school s ice Arena. 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