Not So Fast, Comrade

By Janice Castro

Congress cheered when Boris Yeltsin promised last week that "the idol of communism" has "collapsed, never to rise again." But he'd better watch his back at home. Yeltsin's Vice President, ALEXANDER RUTSKOI, a hero of the Afghan conflict, openly opposes many of Yeltsin's reforms, derisively referring to the Russian President's aides as "little boys in pink shorts." Even as Yeltsin was meeting President Bush last week, Andrei Sidelnikov, a top Rutskoi aide and fellow war hero, was treating Washington to a different view, one thought to be shared by Rutskoi. Said Sidelnikov: "I don't see why I should give up the ideals of the party just because 100 or so people betrayed communism. Before, we had beautiful movies, sport, culture. And now what happens? All of our best people are going to America. And what do we get? Prostitutes, criminals, the Mafia."