Pres. Bush on Yalta

President Bush gave a speech on May 7th in Riga during his tour of Europe. This week marks the 60th anniversary of VE day. He said some interesting things. This paragraph startled me.

As we mark a victory of six days ago -- six decades ago, we are mindful of a paradox. For much of Germany, defeat led to freedom. For much of Eastern and Central Europe, victory brought the iron rule of another empire. V-E Day marked the end of fascism, but it did not end oppression. The agreement at Yalta followed in the unjust tradition of Munich and the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Once again, when powerful governments negotiated, the freedom of small nations was somehow expendable. Yet this attempt to sacrifice freedom for the sake of stability left a continent divided and unstable. The captivity of millions in Central and Eastern Europe will be remembered as one of the greatest wrongs of history.

He is admitting that Roosevelt and Churchhill made a mistake and gave away too much to Stalin. They were afraid of more fighting. The communists were allies in defeating fascism but it is a mistake to forget that they were not friendly to us. It was a lie and cost a lot in lives and -hardship. Pres. Bush said he doesn't want to repeat the mistake in the middle-east which is encouraging.
-Michael

5/24 more commentary on the mistake at yalta from Paul Weyrich