MOSCOW -- A homeowner's golden rule is buy or build -- but never rebuild. The costs of adding a closet to your kitchen almost equals your mortgage; additional insulation ruins your budget; a new bedroom kills your credit.
It is even worse in the case of foreign countries. Unsure of whether to go to war with Iraq, U.S. President George W. Bush is even less certain about what he would do after such a conflict took place.
Let's presume that the strength of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's regime is exaggerated by antiwar critics and that it is toppled in a matter of days. Let's also presume that all his local supporters -- and we are talking about thousands of people if not more -- are neutralized. Now we are left with a big, angry and needy country that the international community -- or at least the United States -- promises to rebuild.