G'day Chris'n'Dave,
I'm with Chris on Chechnya (well, we were due an agreement, I reckon - and
I don't see how threatening to withold funds that only ever find their way
into aparatchik/mob/financier pockets is gonna hurt too many), but leaving
the little matter of murder on a grand scale aside for a minute, there's
some value to be had in anything that drives a wedge between Boris'n'Bill
and/or exacerbates the distance between Boris and his plentiful opponents
as early as possible (one can only surmise how another year or two of
corruption, mass suffering and bereavement might lift the Russian far
right's stocks - anyone know anything about this Barazov character?). With
great chunks of Eastern Europe evincing a left-turn, the time might be
right to have a contest for the Kremlin about now. Another embarrassment
for Yeltsin might be just the ticket, I reckon. His administration (never
mind the old bastard hisself) has gotta be living on borrowed time, no? A
western-inspired Russian retreat saves lives now and might just give the
Russian left the leg-up it needs in potentially auspicious times.
Or am I speculating above and beyond the call of reason?
Cheers,
Rob.
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