Feeling Bolshie
"A [Russian] leader writer has expressed concern that the Soviet Union still exists, that nostalgia for it seems to be the dominant mode. Polls by reputable institutes confirm this: 57% of Russians want the USSR back (2001); 45% consider the Soviet system better than the current system; 43% actually want a new Bolshevik revolution (2003)." — From the March edition of Le Monde Diplomatique.
Reality bites
"We were living behind the Iron Curtain. Unaware of what was really happening outside, we thought we were experiencing the deprivation of a levelling process. Now that the curtain has come down, we have had to face real destitution. We now know that in the Soviet era, we were not living in deprivation but in a system of graduated, if not high, sufficiency. Heath care and education were available to all, even though the 'people's servants' enjoyed special privileges. The queues meant everyone could get what they needed and that is not accessible to most people today." — Russian historian Viktor Danilov, quoted in the March edition of Le Monde Diplomatique.
Al Qaeda propagandist
"He is just expressing a view which reflects a lot of the propaganda we're getting from al Qaeda." — Foreign minister Alexander Downer, March 16, rebuking Australian Federal Police commissioner Mick Keelty for saying on March 13: "If this turns out to be Islamic extremists responsible for this bombing in Spain, it's more likely to be linked to the position that Spain and other allies took on issues such as Iraq."
UN, US — what's the difference
"The United States passed some 17 resolutions, which were defied by Saddam Hussein" — US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, March 16.
From Green Left Weekly, March 24, 2004.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.