a daily independent global news hour

REMEMBERING THE DEAD
Ronald Reagan 1911-2004: Noam Chomsky, Helen Caldicott & Robert Parry on Iran-Contra, the Nuclear Race and Covert Wars from Central America to Africa

On Saturday, former President Ronald Reagan died after suffering for more than a decade from the mind-destroying illness of Alzheimer’s disease. He was 93 years old.

Ronald Reagan served as president through much of the nuclear race between the United States and the Soviet Union, as well as the Cold War. He defeated President Jimmy Carter in a 1980 election that was marked by the secret arms-for-hostages deal. Reagan left office on a high note on Jan. 20, 1989. The last Gallup Poll of his presidency gave him a 63 percent approval rating, the highest for any departing president since FDR.

Among Republicans and other conservatives, Reagan’s presidency is remembered as a revolution. Current president George Bush has evoked his name consistently throughout his time in power. The network and newspaper coverage of his death has brought forth a chorus of praise from Democrats and Republicans.

Much of the reporting and commentary has represented a dramatic revision of the history of the Reagan years in office. We spend the hour focusing on the policies of Reagan’s administration and the history of his 8 years in power with MIT professor and author Noam Chomsky, veteran investigative journalist Robert Parry whose reporting led to the exposure of what is now known as the "Iran-Contra" scandal and Dr. Helen Caldicott, one of the world’s most respected anti-nuclear activists.

Helen Caldicott on the Nuclear Race: Reagan Was the "Pied Piper of Armageddon"

Noam Chomsky on Reagan’s Legacy: Bush Has Resurrected "The Most Extremist, Arrogant, Violent and Dangerous Elements" of Reagan’s White House

Robert Parry On What the Corporate Media Forgot: The Reagan Administration’s Manipulation of Intelligence and Exaggeration of Threats