Putin Power

[[AK]Bribo]

Putin shows his mettle. France, Spain and the rest of the world could take a lesson here.

“No-one has a moral right to tell us to talk to child killers,” Mr Putin was quoted as saying by Britain’s Guardian and Independent newspapers.

He added: “Why don’t you meet Osama Bin Laden, invite him to Brussels or to the White House and engage in talks, ask him what he wants and give it to him so he leaves you in peace?

“You find it possible to set some limitations in your dealings with these bastards, so why should we talk to people who are child-killers?”

Full text here.

[[AK]Squidly]

Lol...he's castigating the United States heavily in that rant, Bribo. I'm not sure that's a good example.

I feel for the Russian people, but Putin is no great friend to the US.

[[AK]Hylander]

Maybe Squid, but he's no Chirac!!

[[AK]Squidly]

He was against the war in Iraq, supplied Iraqis with weapons despite the sanctions, and by many accounts is helping Iran with their nuke program.

Six of one, half dozen of another...

[[AK]Bribo]

Perhaps this might be their 9/11 - an event that will change a lot of hearts and minds.

Remember - it took Pearl Harbor to get us involved in WW2.

[[AK]Hylander]

He was against the war in Iraq, supplied Iraqis with weapons despite the sanctions, and by many accounts is helping Iran with their nuke program.

Six of one, half dozen of another...

I disagree. Putin has resolve and at least some integrity. He will fight relentlessly toward his objectives. Chirac lacks all of the above except his relentless pursuit of appeasement.

[Slaughter]

*shoots Chirac*

oops.. a dirty frenchman has died.. I'm sorry. (not really)

[[AK]Choozoo]

The cold war is only 13 years dead. Don't count on support from the Russians. And yes, it was chastising the entire western world, not just W Europe.

[[AK]Squidly]

He was chastising us, specifically. For asking them to negotiate with the "seperatists". I'm pissed off at that too, actually.

I've just outlined the weasle ways of Russia. They equal or exceed France in every way. I suppose it's the fact that France is trying to be a "bigger force"
than it merits is what makes it more annoying to some people.

[[AK]Abaddon]

It sounds like our government dropped the ball by trying to tell Putin to negotiate with his own Islamonazi cockroaches. We should have encouraged and assisted him in squashing them ... Russia and the U.S. have some common ground here.

I can understand his attitude toward us somewhat, if the weasels at our State Department have been treating his terrorists like a legitimate government. It's almost as bad as treating Arafat like a real elected official.

However, nothing excuses the fact that Russia supplied Iraq with material to use against our troops. That issue needs to be addressed.

And Slaughter ... I know you were just kidding around with that "shoots Chirac" thing - but it's really not all that funny.

[[AK]Squidly]

It sounds like our government dropped the ball by trying to tell Putin to negotiate with his own Islamonazi cockroaches. We should have encouraged and assisted him in squashing them ... Russia and the U.S. have some common ground here.

I can understand his attitude toward us somewhat, if the weasels at our State Department have been treating his terrorists like a legitimate government. It's almost as bad as treating Arafat like a real elected official.

The feeling I get is that some in our government want to guard against sounding like we are encouraging Russia to gobble up surrounding states.

However, nothing excuses the fact that Russia supplied Iraq with material to use against our troops. That issue needs to be addressed.

It's sort of water under the bridge at this point. It'd be useful to bring up as a "gotcha" in discussions, but I'm more worried about the help they're currently providing Iran. This crap has to stop.

[[AK]Abaddon]

Yeah, good point about the Iran assistance.

At some point the U.S. and Russia started treating each other as adversaries again. I'm not sure when it happened, but we need to heal that rift quickly. There are good reasons for us to work together.

Chechnya was part of the Soviet Union, and part of Russia before that(albeit unwillingly). There comes a time when a country has to put a halt to states breaking away on their own. The U.S. had to deal with that in the past as well.

The U.S. should never treat any regime which uses terrorist tactics as a legitimate government or organization. As long as they are taking hostages and deliberately attacking civilians, they are terrorists and nothing more. That line needs to be drawn. We should not be telling any other governments to negotiate with terrorists, either.

[[AK]Choozoo]

speaking of Iran, did you see the book Drudge was touting? I'm going to pick that one up. Book

[[AK]Hylander]

The feeling I get is that some in our government want to guard against sounding like we are encouraging Russia to gobble up surrounding states.

It's sort of water under the bridge at this point. It'd be useful to bring up as a "gotcha" in discussions, but I'm more worried about the help they're currently providing Iran. This crap has to stop.

I think that is the case Squid. We have a relationship with Ukraine and a few of the other former Soviet states and we had to walk the line carefully. However, I think that line may change now with what happened in Chechnya. It is pretty clear they are tied with Islamic extremists who want Chechnya to be a totalitarian state for Islam. We would appear to be extremely hypocritical to not support Russian in their efforts there now IMHO.

Perhaps this exposure to Islamic extremism will help some of those in power in Russia think twice about their relationship with Iran and what could happen if they obtain the full capability of producing nuclear weaponry.

[[AK]Choozoo]

Do you guys work for the CIA or NSA?