Carrying the Lantern

Don't you just love a good mystery? No, not the cops & robbers type but a grand, world-domination type mystery.

Thank goodness we had some great statesmen and diplomats back when the Cold War began who could take the long view in world affairs; who understood the situation, the motivations of those involved, and could put forth strategies for establishing a lasting peace while avoiding war. One such man died last night in New Jersey. He is rightfully credited with solving the mystery of why the Soviet Union hated the U.S., where this threat would lead (whether we liked it or not), and how to establish a lasting peace. He was George F. Kennan (1904-2005).

His Long Telegram sent from Moscow to Washington in 1946 proposed the precepts of U.S. foreign policy towards the Soviet Union. One line went...

"In these circumstances it is clear that the main element of any United States policy toward the Soviet Union must be that of long-term, patient but firm and vigilant containment of Russian expansive tendencies."

The telegram was basically republished a year later in Foreign Affairs for all the world to see. And so was born the policy of "containment"; a policy we followed for over 40 years and which led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. I played a small part in containment, in ways I can never reveal. This was one of the great moments in my military career.

Thank you Mr. Kennan.