European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 15, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes column Flora Lewis Yeltsin knows How to plumb russian feelings a a the. I Turk lies with Russia Quot Boris Yeltsin said with a conspiratorial smile. That could mean a lot of things but in the context it was dearly a suggestion that the soviet Union May break up leaving the russian heartlands on their own. He was speaking on French television part of a politician s tour to promote his Book and his Persona As the major challenger to Mikhail Gorbachev for leadership. He broke off the trip abruptly to Rush Back to Moscow for a hastily called Central committee meeting to vote on Gorbachev a plan to become the All powerful soviet president. It does t seem to be the new presidential Powers that Yeltsin opposes so much As the indirect election by the Appa rat dominated Congress of people s deputies. If there is a direct popular election which May come in five years Yeltsin said he would be a candidate. But he obviously does t think the soviet Union will go on As it is for live More years. In the meantime he intends to install himself firmly As head of the russian soviet Federated socialist Republic Only i of 15 such in the soviet Union but with nearly half the total population and three quarters of the territory. He won his seat in the russian soviet from Sverdlovsk with 85 percent of the Vole and should have no trouble becoming the russian but not the soviet Union s president. He is obviously a fighter and he has zeroed in on Gorbachev As the Man to beat no longer satisfied to provide the Radical balance to conservatives. That leaves Gorbachev entrenched in the Center. The next communist party Congress in july will be the a last Chance Quot to democratize and Clear out the old liners he said. Otherwise the party will split. Mis threat to Lead a breakaway parly is barely veiled possibly in a broken off state. Yeltsin 59, reminds me of Ariel Sharon with his hard edged voice his air of total self Confidence his Broad Pink face and his disdain for niceties. He seizes the themes that stir Peoples emotions and hammers at Gorbachev for compromising half Mca surfs ineffectiveness High living and improvisation. He does no to present a program beyond saying that things Are intolerable and dramatic Reform is urgent. But russian nationalism is obviously going to be a part of what he has to offer and if that upsets non russians in the soviet mix it does no to bother him. His comment on the strange demand by Gorbachev that Lithuania Quot compensate Quot the soviet Union with $33 billion in hard currency if it wants to secede was even stranger  kesi6w? Emo else nuts this Idos Timog the russians he said could Bill All the other republics for contributing to their development. He is in tune with russian feelings that they More than All the other Peoples corralled into the Empire Over three centuries have borne the burdens and been the victims of misrule. Twelve years ago when the French historian Helene Carrere Dencausse wrote a the shattered Empire predicting the soviet unions collapse in National hostilities it was brushed off As fantasy. It can to be any longer. Now she says russians Tell her they might be better off turning the non russian republics Loose but they done to dare because it could leave them facing a great moslem state probably fundamentalist. They Haven to forgotten the mongol hordes that Cut them off when the Renaissance was brightening the rest of Europe and Many consider the medieval asian invasion the cause of russians historic backwardness. Yeltsin knows How to plumb these feelings. He is an Engineer by training an ally of a but not one of a the Moscow intellectuals whose goals of Reform envision some kind of sprightly social democracy. He wears a Large badge on his Lapel the red Flag of the communist party. But he does no to seem to be an ideologue and he does no to use the traditional party gobbled 1 gook though he is certainly a product of the system. Just As statesmen Are steeling themselves to face the difficult implications of German Unity the vastly More Complex possibility of soviet disunion is looming on the horizon. The idea that if it blows up it wont be there to worry about is dangerously simplistic. The Way the changes come will matter enormously to the world. The three Baltic republics could probably be fitted without great difficulty into the european state system either As part of a looser soviet confederation or As Independent states closely associated with their neighbors like Luxembourg. Even there however Large russian minorities will require accommodation. But the rest presents mind boggling problems of disintegration. It is All the More reason to hurry up and produce new International structures and agreements that can help reduce the frictions ahead. Meanwhile Yeltsin bears watching. He looks like a hard Man. C new York times top 10 paperback discount the place is the East German Border. The time is tomorrow a and the red army and its Warsaw pact allies Are about to crash across West Germany. From the cockpit of a Mig to the foot soldiers and tankers on the scarred bloody battlefields to the four Star general commanding the attack red army is a riveting portrayal of modern War a and of human strengths and weaknesses. Seen entirely through russian eyes this extraordinary novel is destined to become a classic. Red army is a stars and stripes top 10 paperback selection for March available at the discounted Price of $4.05 regular Price $4.50. Each month we offer customers 10 popular paperback titles at ten percent off from the regular cover Price. Stop in and save on a top 10 paperback today you can save Money every Day at stars and stripes bookstores with numerous paperbacks magazines and hardcover titles All discounted for you. Customers have already saved More than $760,000 in fiscal 1990. Stars and stripes bookstores a serving you while you serve Over Here