Changes

The first part was a war of action. The Reagan administration used paramilitary ops, covert action, small unit combat, and simly taking the torch to the enemy. The instruments were anti-communist [[Nicaragua]]n freedom fighters, anti-communist [[Afghanistan|Afghan]] freedom fighters and anti-communist [[Poland|Polish]] freedom fighters.  

The first part was a war of action. The Reagan administration used paramilitary ops, covert action, small unit combat, and simly taking the torch to the enemy. The instruments were anti-communist [[Nicaragua]]n freedom fighters, anti-communist [[Afghanistan|Afghan]] freedom fighters and anti-communist [[Poland|Polish]] freedom fighters.  

The second part was a war of material. Reagan began a massive re-armament based on high-technology that obsoleted a generation of Soviet weaponry. Before Reagan took office, U.S. defense technology had fallen badly behind the Soviets during the Jimmy Carter administration. The defense upgrade include a 600 ship [[United States Navy|Navy]], new [[United States Army|Army]] divisions, tanks, planes, and missiles. Under the orders of Reagan, [[Caspar Weinberger]] cleared out the Carter [[Department of Defense|Defense Department]], instilled an esprit de corps within the ranks, and rebuilt the military as an instrument for the Soviets to fear. The method was unpredictable. Incursions into [[Russia]]n airspace, sending [[B-52]]s in attack formation over the North Pole, disrupting naval exercises. The weapons build-up forced the Soviets to increase military spending, freeing the [[CIA]] to inflict massive damage in [[Afghanistan]] and [[Central America]] without obvious U.S. involvement.

The second part was a war of material. Reagan began a massive re-armament based on high-technology that obsoleted a generation of Soviet weaponry. Before Reagan took office, U.S. defense technology had fallen badly behind the Soviets during the Jimmy Carter administration. The defense upgrade include a 600 ship [[United States Navy|Navy]], new [[United States Army|Army]] divisions, tanks, planes, and missiles. Under the orders of Reagan, [[Caspar Weinberger]] cleared out the Carter [[Department of Defense|Defense Department]], instilled an esprit de corps within the ranks, and rebuilt the military as an instrument for the Soviets to fear. The method was unpredictable. Incursions into [[Russia]]n airspace, sending B-52s in attack formation over the North Pole, disrupting naval exercises. The weapons build-up forced the Soviets to increase military spending, freeing the [[CIA]] to inflict massive damage in [[Afghanistan]] and [[Central America]] without obvious U.S. involvement.

The third part of the plan was a war of ideas. Reagan recognized that mass communications was the new most important instrument. He used Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and Radio Marti; bombarding the captive nations with broadcasts, embedding coded messages for the leaders of resistance movements, secretly distributing [[Koran]]s and pamphlets and that detailed the ongoing Soviet abuse of [[Islam|Muslims]]. Reagan knew that the struggle against communism was not simply between two political ideologies, but it was fundamentally about core beliefs and values and faith in a higher power. So when he changed the radio stations and made them voices of advocacy, he also added religious programming. Particular the [[Catholic]] mass was provided to listeners in [[Poland]] and that was a very energizing and mobilizing influence in a country where Catholicism and resistance to communism worked well together. They were also providing information and spiritual food to Muslims in Soviet Central Asia. They were printing brochures and they were having radio programs that talked about the incompatibility between I[[slam]] and the forced militant [[atheism]] of communism.  

The third part of the plan was a war of ideas. Reagan recognized that mass communications was the new most important instrument. He used Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and Radio Marti; bombarding the captive nations with broadcasts, embedding coded messages for the leaders of resistance movements, secretly distributing [[Koran]]s and pamphlets and that detailed the ongoing Soviet abuse of [[Islam|Muslims]]. Reagan knew that the struggle against communism was not simply between two political ideologies, but it was fundamentally about core beliefs and values and faith in a higher power. So when he changed the radio stations and made them voices of advocacy, he also added religious programming. Particular the [[Catholic]] mass was provided to listeners in [[Poland]] and that was a very energizing and mobilizing influence in a country where Catholicism and resistance to communism worked well together. They were also providing information and spiritual food to Muslims in Soviet Central Asia. They were printing brochures and they were having radio programs that talked about the incompatibility between [[Islam]] and the forced militant [[atheism]] of communism.  

The fourth and final part of the plan was a war of [[money]]. Reagan devised a plan to bankrupt the Soviet Union. Reagan had always known that the Soviet economy was no more than the size of [[California]]'s and CIA analysis proved him right. There 500 billion dollars paled in comparison to the 2.5 trillion dollars of the [[United States]]. Reagan used this discrepancy to America's advantage with economic warfare on a scale never seen before. One fought with a new weapon. Reagan made the dollar a weapon for the first time in Soviet history. The Soviet system had been in crisis since 1917, but they had always figured out a way in the [[Kremlin]] to have the West bail them out. Reagan saw to it that that was not going to happen this time. So it was a struggle about dollars and credits as much as it was about tanks and missiles. Reagan used oil through a partnership with [[Saudi Arabia]]. The Soviet Union's hard currency came from a single source: its mineral wealth of [[oil]] and [[gas]]. Reagan secretly sent William Casey, the Director of Central Intelligence, to Riyadh to strong arm the Saudis into tripling oil production, cutting prices by fifty percent. Casey successful and got the Saudis to go along. Reagan's objective was an economic boom in the West and a crippling blow to the struggling Soviet economy. The desperate Soviets needed hard cash, so they resorted to gas fields in [[Siberia]]. There solution was a 4000 mile pipeline connecting the fields to the markets in Western Europe. The prize was billions of cubic feet of gas flowing from Siberia and therefore tens of billions in hard currency flowing back to [[Moscow]].  

The fourth and final part of the plan was a war of [[money]]. Reagan devised a plan to bankrupt the Soviet Union. Reagan had always known that the Soviet economy was no more than the size of [[California]]'s and CIA analysis proved him right. There 500 billion dollars paled in comparison to the 2.5 trillion dollars of the [[United States]]. Reagan used this discrepancy to America's advantage with economic warfare on a scale never seen before. One fought with a new weapon. Reagan made the dollar a weapon for the first time in Soviet history. The Soviet system had been in crisis since 1917, but they had always figured out a way in the [[Kremlin]] to have the West bail them out. Reagan saw to it that that was not going to happen this time. So it was a struggle about dollars and credits as much as it was about tanks and missiles. Reagan used oil through a partnership with [[Saudi Arabia]]. The Soviet Union's hard currency came from a single source: its mineral wealth of [[oil]] and [[gas]]. Reagan secretly sent William Casey, the Director of Central Intelligence, to Riyadh to strong arm the Saudis into tripling oil production, cutting prices by fifty percent. Casey successful and got the Saudis to go along. Reagan's objective was an economic boom in the West and a crippling blow to the struggling Soviet economy. The desperate Soviets needed hard cash, so they resorted to gas fields in [[Siberia]]. There solution was a 4000 mile pipeline connecting the fields to the markets in Western Europe. The prize was billions of cubic feet of gas flowing from Siberia and therefore tens of billions in hard currency flowing back to [[Moscow]].