De val vanuit een andere hoek

[Cees Binkhorst]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

The Airplane that won the Cold War
http://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/Aircraft_That_Changed_the_World.html?c=y&page=1

That's a pretty impressive accolade! Where'd I get such a notion? By
reading an article in the Smithsonian Air and Space magazine (July
2008), which perhaps put it even a bit more "enthusiastically", naming
it one of the ten "Aircraft That Changed The World"
http://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/rust.html?c=y&page=1


What secret military technology did this device conceal? Well, none. It
was the "mission" it was flown on, also expounded upon by the
Smithsonian some time earlier (June/July 2005 issue), "The Notorious
Flight of Mathias Rust".

At the time, the general perception conveyed in the U.S. press, was this
was an amusing stunt performed by a naive but somewhat unbalanced and
delusional extremist.

(And, perhaps he was...Mathias Rust)
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Mathias_Rust#encyclopedia

But to his credit, he had done some thinking (on things besides flight
planning: 550 nm flight was at the far end of the Cessna's range): "To
many Europeans, Mikhail Gorbachev’s ascendancy to the Soviet leadership
in 1985 offered a glimmer of hope. Glasnost, his policy of transparency
in government, and perestroika, economic reforms at home, were radical
departures from the policies of his predecessors. So when the
U.S.-Soviet summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, in October 1986 ended without
an arms reduction deal, Rust felt despair. He was particularly angered
by Reagan’s reflexive mistrust of the Soviet Union, which Rust felt had
blinded the president to the historic opportunity Gorbachev presented."

Reykjavik Summit, Oct 11-12, 1986.

With today, November 9, being the 20th anniversary of the nominal
observation of the "fall of the Berlin Wall", I think the humble Cessna
172 deserves it's due credit.

>>From U.S. News and World Report, June 15, 1987:
"Mathias Rust surely had no thoughtof doing Mikhail Gorbachev a favor.
But last week, Gorbachev was trying to turn what could have been
humiliation into opportunity by undercutting the old military
establishment and launching what may be the long-awaited mopup of
opponents--military and civilian --who impede his reforms. Rust's tiny
plane, which he had flown unscathed through vaunted Soviet air defenses,
was still parked near Red Square when Gorbachev began firing and
promoting military brass. His dismissal of Defense Minister Sergei
Sokolov, 75, appeared only the first step in a purge of recalcitrant
officers."

Gorbachev and glasnost: viewpoints from the Soviet Press by Isaac J.
Tarasulo, Dec 1989):
"For two years Gorachev did not attempt to interfere with military
personnel decisions. While military leaders supported Gorbachev's call
for revitalizing the Soviet economy, they believed themselves exempt
from these changes. Exempt, that is, until May 1987. On May 28, 1987,
nineteen-year-old Mathias Rust landed his Cessna 172 in Red Square..."

NYTimes, June 1, 1987:
A Test for Gorbachev...
"The scalding public indictment of the military signaled that even the
most revered and powerful institutions would be subject to open
criticism...Since taking office in March 1985, Mr. Gorbachev has pressed
to hold down growth in military spending and has pursued a number of
foreign policy initiatives, including an 18-month moratorium on
underground nuclear testing, that have troubled the military." (How's
that go again, that we forced the Soviet Union to economic collapse with
an arms spending race?)

"Tear Down This Wall". (Ronnie reads his lines, on June 12, 1987. He was
in Germany to bolster support for Pershing II nuclear missile
deployments in Europe).

Two weeks after the Cessna 172 landed.

Reagan ends his second term, on Jan 21, 1989.

"In May of 1989,Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev visited West German
Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Gorbachev told Kohl the Soviets would not block
democratic reforms in Warsaw Pact nations".

In June 1989, the Polish elections legitmize Solidarity.

On August 23, 1989, Hungary removed its physical border defences with
Austria, and in September more than 13,000 East German tourists in
Hungary escaped to Austria.

The East German head of state Erich Honecker, from 1971 until 1989, is
forced by his own Poltiburo to resign on October 18, 1989. (The big
significance: "In 1961, Honecker, as the Central Committee secretary for
security matters, was in charge of the building of the Berlin Wall.")

"East German government announced on November 9, 1989, after several
weeks of civil unrest, that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany
and West Berlin."

"The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification,
which was formally concluded on October 3, 1990."

What a wonderful moment in history, to be celebrated! It was amazing how
fast Germany reunification happened- I remember estimates of the year
2020-2040. (Erich Honecker, The Party Leader in East Germany:"The Wall
will be standing in 50 and even in 100 years, if the reasons for it are
not yet removed." (Berlin, 19 January 1989).

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