European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 15, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sov of Teader Mikhail Gorbachev with president Reagan and president elect Bush during his visit to new York in december last year. Reagan Recap a 8 years of presidential Impact associated press a s Ronald Reagan Steps from the stage he leaves a world remarkably different fro the one to inherited eight years  Reagan s watch soviet american relations took on a warmth that could not have been anticipated then. Much of latin America shed its dictators and embraced democracy. The United nations gained in importance. The . Government opened talks with the Palestine liberation organization which the Reagan administration had labelled an outlaw band of terrorists. And the administration sold arms to another adversary the regime of the Ayatollah in Iran. Associated press reporters who have covered these events sum up the Reagan Impact on world affairs. Reagan and the Kremlin from evil Empire to great Confidence Washington Reagan rewrote the Book on dealing with the Kremlin. But if the Book has changed so has Moscow and so has Reagan. At the outset Reagan labelled the soviet Union an evil Empire whose leaders asserted for themselves the right to commit any crime to lie to cheat to attain their  so far detente has been a one Way Street that the soviet Union has used to pursue its own Aims Reagan said on Jan. 29, 1981. He backed his rhetoric with a trillion Dollar defense buildup. The soviets cranked up  machine in response equating the Reagan administration with Hitler s third Reich. After the soviets walked out of talks to limit intermediate Range missiles Reagan pulled his biggest Surprise in March 1983 directing . Scientists to devise a shield against intercontinental ballistic missiles. The strategic defense initiative reversed an 11-year old policy and has dominated the arms control debate since then. It is widely credited with driving the soviets Back to the bargaining table. At the same time one generation was giving Way to another in the Kremlin. Leonid Brezhnev who was soviet Leader when Reagan took office and under whom the soviets invaded Afghanistan in december 1979 and countenanced the military crackdown against Poland s Solidarity labor Union two years later died in november 1982. He was followed in Quick succession by two elderly men Yuri Andropov and Konstantin Chernenko who died in office and gave Way to Mikhail s. Gorbachev in March 1985. Reagan and Gorbachev found they could do business. In december 1987, they signed a treaty that for the first time eliminated a whole class of new nuclear weapons and created a highly intrusive system of on site verification. The two sides also have made Progress on a treaty to sharply reduce Long Range weapons although differences remain especially Over Star wars. The changes have been profound enough for Reagan to declare at a news conference concluding the Moscow Summit last summer that he had great Confidence in Gorbachev s ability to change the soviet Union. George Gedda the Mideast deals with Ayatollah and Arafat Washington Israel considered Reagan its Best Friend in the White House since president Harry s Truman supported establishment of the jewish state 40 years ago. But in his last weeks Reagan and Secretary of state George p. Shultz authorized talks with the Plo. It was a shocking turn of events bound to open a new chapter in the Mideast s history. The decision based on statements made by Plo chairman Yasser Arafat renouncing terrorism and saying a palestinian state would live alongside Israel dismayed prime minister Yitzhak Shamir and was denounced by the Jerusalem government. Still the criticism was muted while american jewish leaders also held their fire. This was largely due to the Trust Reagan and Shultz had built up. Peace plans advanced unsuccessfully by Reagan and Shultz did not provide for an Independent palestinian state nor Call on Israel to relinquish All of the West Bank and Gaza. . Criticism of the spread of jewish settlements in the occupied territories was muted. The United states vetoed a . Resolution condemning them As illegal and an obstruction to peace. The strenuous american Campaign against terrorism led by Shultz cemented ties with Israel a target of extremists. American jets bombed Tripoli the capital of Libya and Shultz denied a visa to Arafat to speak at the United nations in new York. Ironically Only a few weeks later Shultz approved a substantive dialogue with the Plo which enhanced Arafat s prestige and was received with jubilation in the Arab world. In another curious twist the untied states and Israel secretly provided arms to Iran despite Iran s presence on the state department s list of countries that support terrorism. The purpose was to encourage moderation in Tehran and to secure the release of american hostages. Nine remain in Captivity As Reagan leaves office. In 1982, when israeli troops and tanks rolled into Lebanon in a Campaign to wipe out the Plo the Reagan administration organized a diplomatic Effort to Stop the invasion Short of Beirut and dispatched . Marines to protect the Plo As it evacuated the country. Lebanese christians massacred palestinians that september in refugee Camps South of Beirut bringing continued on Page 14 sunday january 15, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 13