Gipper
Well-Known Member
FRED IKLE'
He was truly a great American. I hope and pray we have more like him in our government...A man who truly loved America and did all he could to protect it.
May God bless him.
He was truly a great American. I hope and pray we have more like him in our government...A man who truly loved America and did all he could to protect it.
May God bless him.
FRED IKLE'
The Cold War ended with a glorious whimper 20 years ago, which means that too few young Americans will have heard of the contributions of Fred Iklé, who died late last week at age 87. The far-seeing defense strategist was one of those who helped win that long twilight struggle, as it was once known, without a U.S.-Soviet nuclear exchange.
Along with the late, great Albert Wohlstetter, Iklé (pron. Eclay) was among those who fashioned U.S. nuclear deterrence strategy during the most dangerous days of the Cold War. They resisted the arms-control fads of the 1970s as naive and dangerous. Instead they focused on maintaining a credible deterrent against Soviet adventurism, while also making the U.S. arsenal and the world in general less dangerous.
As undersecretary for defense policy from 1981 to 1987, Iklé was present at the creation of the strategic defense initiative, the deployment of midrange nuclear missiles in Europe and other decisions that persuaded the Soviets they couldn't win a competition with the West.
Inside the Pentagon, he was among those who pushed to provide arms and especially Stinger missiles to the Afghans who fought against the Soviet invasion. Such U.S. support was a turning point in the Afghan struggle, and arguably in the entire Cold War, as the Soviets began to doubt their ability to prevail. Amid America's current fight in Afghanistan, it's fashionable to deride U.S. support for the Afghan freedom fighters in the 1980s as the beginning of al Qaeda. But the rise of al Qaeda had many causes, and victory in the Cold War liberated millions while sparing countless potential casualties.
In the late 1980s, Iklé combined with Wohlstetter to produce a strategy document called "Discriminate Deterrence" that was remarkably prescient in foreseeing U.S. military needs in the post-Cold War era. It promoted stealth aircraft, precision-guided missiles fired from standoff weapons, smaller satellites and other technologies that have done so much to improve America's ability to project force while doing less collateral damage to noncombatants.
Iklé's wisdom often informed these columns over the years, though he sought no credit. Born in Switzerland before coming to America in 1946, Fred Iklé both benefited from U.S. freedom and helped immeasurably to preserve it.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204190504577038000923866694.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
