Life's tough
"If ever I felt a sense of victory, it was that day when the last bird was taken off alert ... We understand the realities, but there's bound to be a letdown as the reductions come into force." — US Colonel George Sakaldasis, director of strategic programs for the Strategic Air Command, on the organisation's replacement by the new Air Combat Command as part of the US government's military rationalisation program.
Mikhail who?
"The Cold War did not end, it was won ... [and US taxpayers] deserved a hunk of the glory." — US President George Bush in his January 30 State of the Union speech.
They're everywhere
"The breakdown was revealed yesterday by the US Secretary for Defence, Mr Richard Cheney, who said the White House welcomed Mr Yeltsin's offer to cut back Russia's nuclear program and scrap the former Soviet Union's Strategic Defence Initiative." — Crack Murdoch journalist Bryan Boswell in the January 31 Australian, revealing to a startled world that Star Wars was really a Russkie plot. What does that make Ronnie Reagan?
Bright future
"The only alternative to Yeltsin is Stalin: an authoritarian regime ... Without depicting Yeltsin as a white knight, this is about the best government they're going to have." — A White House official explaining why the US government has decided to help shore up Boris Yeltsin's government of the Russian republic.
One of the best
"Russia is unified and indivisible. The Russian historic consciousness will not permit anyone to confuse the borders of Russia with those of the Russian federation, thus giving up the substance of the glorious pages of Russian history." — Boris Yeltsin's vice-president, Alexander Rutskoi, apparently laying claim to the former tsarist empire.
The lord provides
"The Call to Australia Party, led by the Reverend Fred and Elaine Nile, spent $16,209 less than it received in donations for last May's state election, official figures showed yesterday. The NSW Electoral Funding Authority's figures also show that in August last year the authority handed over a cheque for $126,002 to the party ... Shortly after the election the Niles said they were broke and would be forced to sell the family home because campaign costs exceeded contributions ... the party spent $251,069 to run its election campaign." — Sydney Telegraph Mirror, February 1.