>"Gaidar had the best of intentions. Maybe this is not such a bad idea.
>Having seen what happened to Russia, he will be aware of the pitfalls,"
>he said. "He can help Iraq avoid making the same mistakes."
You would have thought so, but the following seems to indicate he is now living incommunicado on another planet:
>But Gaidar said reforming Iraq would probably prove less complicated
>than reforming Russia. "There were very many problems in Russia, more
>than in Iraq," he said. "We tried to do everything to avoid a civil war
>and economic catastrophe. In the end, we succeeded."
If Russia succeeded in avoiding a civil war, what is it that's happening in Chechnia exactly? A teddy bears picnic perhaps?
>He said battling inflation in Iraq is a key issue, but that doing so
>would not be as difficult as it was in Russia, where the matter was
>complicated by the implosion of the Soviet Union into 15 former
>republics, with each printing its own currency. He said the main problem
>would be stabilizing the economy after the collapse of the previous
>regime.
"Collapse" of the previous regime? You'd think they would at least fill the poor fellow in on the recent events in Iraq before asking him for advice. What with him being blind, deaf and thick as two short Yanks, this Gaidar fellow doesn't need people playing twisted jokes on him.
>Gaidar said he did not want to comment further on Iraq until he had time
>to study the situation.
This is surely a parody?
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas