Letter: Credit is due to Marshall and Kennan

Sunday, Nov. 27, 2005 | 7:53 a.m.

Thomas Friedman's Nov. 13 commentary, "Gridlock in Washington," is a tribute to his customary astuteness, but I think he missed an opportunity to double its effectiveness.

I think Mr. Friedman is only fractionally right when he maintains that the first President Bush managed the collapse of the Soviet Union, and I'm not referring to Ronald Reagan's bravado "Tear down that wall" speech. I'm referring to the most important Americans in our Cold War with Russia.

First and foremost: Gen. George Marshall, the greatest military mind our country has produced. More than any other general, he understood the importance of geopolitics with all of its complex ramifications. His Marshall Plan successfully blocked the drift to communism after World War II.

Most Americans living today don't know about the huge communist pluralities racked up in European elections after the war. Almost as important as the Marshall Plan was George Kennan's low-key diplomatic containment policy.

Marshall and Kennan weren't flag-waving, pious-posturing grandstanders, but they sure were effective. The struggle lasted about half a century, and they deserve 90 percent of the credit. A military theorist in ancient China by the name of Sun Tsu pointed out that the best war is one in which there aren't any casualties.

Rolf Goeth

Las Vegas