Reagan on the Berlin Wall 26 yrs. ago

Twenty-six years ago today, President Ronald Reagan delivered one of the defining speeches of his presidency. He traveled to Berlin, Germany, which at that time was divided by one of Soviet Communism's most visibly oppressive symbols -- the Berlin Wall.

Rather than seeking accommodation with the Soviets or rationalizing away the evil that wall represented, Ronald Reagan took a stand for freedom and boldly declared, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

That was the beginning of the end of the "evil empire." Two years later, the Berlin Wall came down, and two years after that the Soviet Union collapsed as well. That is leadership. And the West desperately needs such bold leadership today as it confronts the evil of Islamofascism.