Bush Gives a Lesson in Revisionist History

Re “Bush Regrets Treaty That Split Europe,” May 8: President Bush does our country a disservice by his portrayal of America (meaning FDR) selling out Eastern Europe at Yalta in World War II. The human costs of American soldiers capturing Berlin, to say nothing of the totality of Eastern Europe, would have been astronomical.

The partisan attempts by Republicans to recast FDR in a negative light is not lost on those who have studied U.S. history. Bush’s simplistic remarks point to his lackluster record as a student and his political motivation to make a villain of FDR, the champion of both Social Security and World War II.

May FDR’s legacy rest in peace.

Edward Boswell

Long Beach

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It is interesting to hear Bush preach the benefits of “the rule of law and the limitation of power through checks and balances.” With the Republican base urging funding cuts to courts with contrary opinions and the GOP attempting to abolish the filibuster, one wonders if Bush should reserve these sentiments for Vladimir V. Putin or save them for the home team.

Mat Pruneda

Glendale

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Your two assessments of Russia, “It’s OK to Scold the Backslider” by Michael McFaul and “For Real Results, Let’s Get Real” by Eugene Rumer (Opinion, May 8), provide two different perspectives on how to deal with Russia. I prefer Rumer for honest pragmatism, instead of McFaul’s self-righteous hypocrisy. Implementing democracy is not the same in all countries, especially in a country spread over 11 time zones still riddled with about 100 ethnic groups, including radical Islamists seeking secession through terrorism that has hit at the heart of Moscow.

Russia lost 25 million lives in bringing victory to the Allied powers. This experience is as profound in shaping the minds of Russians as the Holocaust is for the Jews. Soviet crimes were committed under orders from Josef Stalin, who was a Georgian and not a Russian.

Russians could bring up slavery, racism and Vietnam as examples of American sins. A “holier than thou” approach to Russia is unwarranted. More empathy and understanding are needed.

Raju G. C. Thomas

Professor of International Affairs

Marquette University, Milwaukee

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Rumer wrote that “Russia ... continues its retreat from democracy, its economy is addicted to oil and its foreign policy is ham-handed.” If you substitute “the United States” for Russia, the sentence still works for me. Anybody else worried about that?

Alan Crawford

Arcadia

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On the 60th anniversary of V-E Day, the article on the search for Russia’s World War II dead (“A Somber Realization in Battlefields of Bones,” May 7) is a timely reminder of the sacrifice that millions of Russians made to the defeat of Nazism. While it is true Stalin was as evil a leader as Adolf Hitler, the Russian people do not deserve to be overlooked in commemoration of the sacrifice that millions from many nations made to end the horror of Nazism.

Remembrance and honoring of the dead of D-day, June 6, 1944, have sometimes overlooked the equally important role of Russian soldiers in destroying Hitler’s war machine. Your newspaper is to be congratulated for reminding all of us of the terrible price that ordinary Russians paid to help free Europe from Nazi occupation.

Thank you for such sensitive reporting that properly focused on Russian soldiers’ sacrifice in World War II and on those families still mourning loved ones whose bones still cover the Eastern Front.

Rod Olsen

Canberra, Australia