COMMENTARY
Fear of strong Russia yesterday, fear of weakened Russia today
By Shin Yasui
It has been quite a while since
Mosi ow i aimed down The
Russian military remains loy
al to the Yeltsin government
However. Moscow's turmoil is
a reflection of neither the former
Soviet l Inion nor the whole Rus
sin The Russian military, which
inherited most of the elements
of the once mighty, fearful Sovi
et Union military, nun face its
internal disintegration. That
possibility is a regional and
global problem of concern
Russia now faces H indepen
dent republics with its own
"near abroad" policy. The Russ
ian military still remains in
those countries, but its role and
reputation varies from one state
to another Some support the
government of the host country,
while others get involved in
armed opposition to it
The problem is that the cen
tral authorities do not have full
control over the military
deployed throughout the former
Soviet Union The military offi
cials in Moscow consider
Yeltsin’s government a legiti
mate one; however, in each
region, policy-making din isions
are more likely to depend on
local military commanders
Therefore, aggressive or i overt
operation of Russian soldiers in
the internal conflicts of former
Soviet republic s does not riei es
sarilv reflect Moscow's official
policy
In Moldova, the former Sovi
et Union’s 14th Arms has taken
the side of the self-declared
"Dneistwr republic" of Russians
1 ike Serbs in Bosnia, the old
communists tr\ to maintain the
sphere of influence with an
excuse of "protecting Russians
and Russo-fied Ukrainians"
from the Rumanian threat Hiis
is one example showing how
local commanders do not recog
nize tiie host government and
joined the rebels to preserve the
Union. Petru t.ucinschi. the
Moscow-oriented former lirst
se< retarv of Moldova's C.ommu
nist Party. said that Russia's
troops are "creating a situation
on the Yugoslav model bv cut
ting off Moldovn's eastern area
from the rest of the countrv
That's not the i ase for all of
the former Soviet republics
However, there are men enaries,
extremists and Cossacks w ho are
independently fighting against
legitimate governments regard
less of their nationalities 1 oss of
central control indeed causes
this problem Crisis in Mosi ow
may further act (derate disinte
grntion of the military itself
The Russian government is
actively try mg to solve regional
conflicts m Azerbaijan. Georgia
and Tajikistan although itseftis
tiveness is doubtful, espet tally
in Georgia's t ase However, it is
interesting to notice tfi.it some
former Soviet repuhlii s begin to
look at Russia as a nmitrnl or
even a peat i' broker
"The former Soviet republic ->
need to recognize that the gov
ernment cannot f>e ethnic' any
more, " said Alan Kimball, a
Russian history professor, citing
a recent example of lieorgia's
approac ti toward Russia. 'I tan
not tie optimistu he said, "but
it may be a re-establishment of
relationship Iwtween Russia and
neighbor republics with bilater
al treaties What the internation
al community t an do is to sup
port the 'tranquility' of those
relationships
Although there is a negative
legat v of the I'.S.SR., there is
also (lie fai t that independent
republh s Ix-gui to find it impos
sible to have an ethno-centrii
role federal or confederate
structure in repubiu s and loose
fmt carefully coordinated coop
eration between repuhlit s, espe
cially with Russia, will he
important elements for their snr
vival.
Thu Russian military itself is
not .1 throat to outsidu countries
Rather, its disintegration is it
gravu threat. Misuse of weapons
and militarv tt'< hnalogv may
contribute to greater warfare in
hot spots worldwide Thu inter
national community needs to
fot tis more on non-proliferation
of weapons.
Tlte United States, which lias
its own industrial complex, is
not likely to faithfully luce the
non-proliferation issue The
Pentagon has Iwen and will i on
tinue to sell arms to "legitimate"
governments overseas (by llieir
standard) While the Russian
military's industrial base is
eroding from the ground, the
U S military industry doesn't
want to fai e the same fate
We wore afraid of a strong
Russia Noyy we are worried
about weakened Russia
Shin Yasin is <; pro-journalism
major at thr I 'nnrrsil\
LETTERS
Dis-Bullregard
Htillo! Look. Doonosbury’s
missing again. And so is the
crossword puzzle. Well. What
have we in their place? Bullre
gard, an incomprehensible car
toon about a toad and something
that seems to be a duck in sun
glasses, or perhaps is intended as
a caricature of Ayn Rand.
Hut the plots nearly spoil the
art. Their sheer perfection is
amazing. Although I haven't once
laughed. I can almost appreci
ate the humor and intelligence of
the strip.
But 1 think it's just a bit over
my head: For example, the com
ic last week about the tutoring
session, where the terrible two
were being mad to from a ixiok of
fairy tales. I found this strip fas
cinating. I just wonder what the
point of it was. And I also won
der: Where's Dooneshury? Please
give a comic strip I can under
stand. Bullrugard. though socio
logically interesting, is inappro
priate for the low intellects of us
college students Give us Doones
bury bm k We ll all be happier
for it.
Eric McCready
Undeclared
Bad gas
In response to the letter from
David Cole in Wednesday's (wiper
I'd like to get some facts straight
According to G. Tyler Miller,
author of Living in the Environ
ment. a text used at this Univer
sity. "At present consumption
rates, the world's crude oil
reserves will deplete in 41 years"
(Wadsworth. 1993).
To make an argument that fuel
reserves are unlimited based on
your ability to get a tank of gas
whenever you want is unin
formed and invalid. Oregon has
liettur air quality than most states
— but Portland has already
exceeded KI’A air quality stan
dards — and Eugene is headed in
this diret tion. We have to do
what we i iin to help keep tin*
quality of lift* what wo want hero
Kristen Shuyler
Anne Morris
OSPIRG
Expression
I’d like to express mv full
expression expressed by the null -
vidual expressing the expression
of the will to express opinion on
the editorial page last Tuesday
(ODE. Nov. 16)
In my feelings I felt a feeling
of full support during the time
that I felt like reading the feel
ings of other people at that time
The feelings ex pressed by the
author more so feelingly
expressed that I couldn’t help
but begin to feel a similar feeling
at express speed
Thank you for taking the time
to express your feelings about the
feelings expressed by some oth
er people I’m sure that Ayn Kami
would have expressed the
expressly same feelings had she
Iieen present nl that lime and full
like expressing hiir findings in the
Hmrrald I hope this isn't morn
than 2.r>0 words.
Eric McCready
Eugene
Get a life
Alhanv Oregon Citizens
Alliance representative |uhn
l.oon groused that his failed
attempt to re< all Mayor (lene IUd
huntuur wasn't going to "help tfie
community divisiveness in
Albany.” What bald-faced nerve,
considering l.eon and the OCA
have done their damnedest to
perpetrate "community divi
stveness" throughout Oregon!
Then again, maybe it is not so
surprising "Sore l.oser l.eon”
would hasten to remind i itizeus
about community divisiveness,
tins lining the OCA's very stock
in the trade.
It's clear who's doing the divid
ing Helhumeur on the eve ol his
violation said, "It's not the homo
sexttals coining liefore i it\ cotm
i il demanding attention It's I he
OCA taking up hours and hours
of council lime." Loon might trv
honest refits ling, instead of banal
mouthings professing t out :ern
afioul turmoil 1 le should own up
to the uglv si enarios happening
throughout (Jregon. and then stop
this needless conflict.
I inartful thanks to every voter
who supported Helhutneur s
right to oppose CXiA's discrimi
natory agenda These voters
stood up to blustering, punitive
minded thugs who thrive on
community conflict. The Ger
man i itizenry in the late louts
stood idly by while hrownshirts
enabled a thug to ( ome to pow
er. Nobody will ever be able to
say that about Helhutneur and
citizens of Albany.
So OCA, are you finally over
your "Rer alls K Ws" obsess inn?
First U) legislators cam eled then
Helhutneur failed Get a life
Carol Berg
Eugene
1
This Map Will Lead You To Oil.
I
>
>
H
U
WEST 1 I TH
COAST N
We think you'll discover it's a major find. Because when we
perform our comprehensive oil change, we not only replenish
your car with one tough motor oil, Quaker State®, but lube
your car 's chassis as well. We also top otf your car s vital
fluids and even inflate your tires. All in just 10 minutes.
So if you want to find oil, study the map to the left and then
take off. But based on what we just told you. don't be
surprised if a lot of people beat you to it.
J5 off our regular full service.;
Eipirc* IZ'15'r' Thi» offer good only *1 Wcsl llthsiorc I
Not valid with any other offer. |
I
Sonic people want to change Ihe world. J
We just want lo change vour oil.'M
minit-iube
23(H) W. 11th (corner of City View and West 11th)
687-8837 • M-S 8 a.m.-6 p.m. • Sun 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
si «© m
© IV*M) (Junker Stale Mini! l ube In,
Lr„„ P„.«. Or.pn.n On Campus Desktop Publishing and Darkroom Services -> 346-4381