Russia Should Be ‘Taken’ Out Of [The G] ‘Eight’.
So decided the ‘gray cardinal’ of Pentagon Richard Pearl.

In Washington the situation around YUKOS is [being] discussed very actively. Some influential politicians [have come to] a conclusion: cooperation with Russia is inadvisable (pointless), Russia is not ready for this. This is an opinion in particular of [a] close friend [of] Donald Rumsfeld’s, the ‘gray cardinal’ of [the] Pentagon. Richard Pearl agreed to answer [some] questions [from] Dimitriy Sidorov’s, despite that he was told not to talk to journalists.

How do you see the situation in Russia after the arrest of the head of Yukos, Michail Chodorkovskiy?

Russia has shown that she needs to be taken out of ‘eight’. None of the G8 countries does to their leading businessmen, what Russia did to Chodorkovskiy. I think that Russia makes very big steps in a wrong way.

But in Washington Russia is seen as a strategic partner. Do you think that Russia will help the USA in the situation with Iran or Syria?

Russia did not help the USA in Iraq, she won’t help us in Iran either.
Do you see the perspective for Russian company to come back to Iraq?
I hope that the USA won’t let Russian companies to come back into Iraq. We freed [the] Iraqi people from Saddam with whom Russia was partners for a long time.

Who do you think will stabilize [their] situation first: the USA in Iraq or Russia in Chechnya?

The USA, no doubt about it. The war in Chechnya will last much, much longer. Despite the fact that Russian officials say that there are not that many terrorists left, there are many more fanatics in Chechnya. One of the reasons [for] this situation is that Russia[n] act[ions are] very cruel in Chechnya.

The war operation in Iraq has shown that the USA can beat the army of the third world. But how is USA doing with problems of stabilization there?

Our army has been in Iraq just for 6 months. Despite the last explosions, I think that the situation is getting better. Of course, the situation is restless. But I am sure, that positive tendencies will dominate.

How soon do you think the American army in Iraq will be “shortened” (curtailed?)

As soon as we will have taught enough Iraqis how to protect themselves and their country, the army immediately will go away.

What do you think the USA needs to do so that Iran and Syria would not finance [and support] terrorists?

Iran and Syria create big problems for the USA. Iran opposes us with their army in Iraq. I think that we will need to send them a more clear signal.

[The] White House reminds Teheran every month about dissatisfaction. What could be more clear than that?

We need to show the Iranian officials that we will support the opposition in the country. I think that it is the best thing to do right now. Nevertheless, the regime in Iran is very unpopular among Iranians.

Do you think that the anti-war mood in America can influence the presidential election?

It can only influence on the Democrats: it could make Howard Dean a candidate for presidency. Howard Dean will be a ‘comfortable’ rival for the president Bush, because the position of Dean does not express the needs and the mood of American people.