Author Topic: Ouch! Putin Answer About Terrorism Stuns Press Conference to Silence  (Read 3069 times)

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Offline bijou

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Ouch!

This video of Russian ex-President (now Prime Minister) Vladimir Putin's response to a question about terrorism at a G-8 summit press conference was posted in early 2008. However, his answer is worth noting now in light of  Barack Obama's rather dispassionate first response to the Nigerian Christmas Day bomb plot terrorist which came off as sounding like a tepid legalistic statement from a deputy district attorney. Here is a transcipt of the question from a French journalist and the blunt response from Putin which stunned  the press conference to silence:

    FRENCH JOURNALIST:  ...Don't you think that by trying to eradicate terrorism in Chechnya you are going to eradicate the civilian population of Chechnya?

    VLADIMIR PUTIN: If you want to become an Islamic fundamentalist and be circumcised, come to Moscow. We are multiconfessional. We have very good specialists. I can recommend one for the operation. He'll make sure nothing grows back.
...
read more here




Offline Thor

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Re: Ouch! Putin Answer About Terrorism Stuns Press Conference to Silence
« Reply #1 on: December 31, 2009, 04:19:02 PM »
While I'm not much into Communism, I really respect Putin. I REALLY wish that we had a President with leadership skills as strong as Putin's. A black belt in Judo, takes no crap from anybody, gets the job done type of man.
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Offline JohnnyReb

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Re: Ouch! Putin Answer About Terrorism Stuns Press Conference to Silence
« Reply #2 on: December 31, 2009, 04:47:23 PM »
Is Mr. McGoo doing circumcisions in Russia?......I hope so.... :-)
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Offline thundley4

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Re: Ouch! Putin Answer About Terrorism Stuns Press Conference to Silence
« Reply #3 on: December 31, 2009, 04:58:29 PM »
Putin would be a perfect villain in some action movies.

Offline formerlurker

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Re: Ouch! Putin Answer About Terrorism Stuns Press Conference to Silence
« Reply #4 on: December 31, 2009, 05:24:35 PM »
While I'm not much into Communism, I really respect Putin. I REALLY wish that we had a President with leadership skills as strong as Putin's. A black belt in Judo, takes no crap from anybody, gets the job done type of man.

Putin is a paranoid nutjob.

Offline Eupher

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Re: Ouch! Putin Answer About Terrorism Stuns Press Conference to Silence
« Reply #5 on: December 31, 2009, 05:29:51 PM »
Putin is a paranoid nutjob.

I could not disagree more. Putin is a cold, calculating, thoroughly RUSSIAN former member of the Soviet elite and former member of the Communist Party who knows which side of the bread is buttered.

He takes the cards that are dealt him and proceeds to change the rules of the game. And there aren't a lot of people in Russia telling him "No, Vlad, you can't do that."

I agree with Thor. Putin is a man who commands and gets respect. He does it through his personal strength and work ethic. Please note that I am NOT saying that Putin is an engaging, charismatic type. Far from it. He's former KGB for God's sake. You can't get much more cold than that, seems to me.
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Offline formerlurker

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Re: Ouch! Putin Answer About Terrorism Stuns Press Conference to Silence
« Reply #6 on: December 31, 2009, 06:08:05 PM »

Quote
Russian government quits, Putin succession heats up
by Sebastian Smith

Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed his prime minister and government Wednesday, paving the way for the Kremlin leader to handpick a successor when he steps down next year.

The replacement of Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov with a barely known finance official, Viktor Zubkov, came three months before parliamentary elections and less than six months ahead of a presidential poll to replace Putin.

The lower house of parliament is expected on Friday to rubber stamp the nomination of Zubkov, head of the government’s financial crimes investigation agency and a former Soviet state farm manager.

Analysts saw 65-year-old Zubkov’s sudden rise as the launch of a long-awaited plan to arrange a replacement for Putin when he steps down at the end of a second term in 2008.

Putin hinted at this, saying he wanted to prepare “the country for the period after the presidential election.” …

Independent analyst Yuliya Latynina said the choice of the barely known Zubkov meant Putin did not yet want to make his choice public. “This is not a solution but the putting off of a solution until a later time,” she said.

Others go further, saying that Putin is keeping his options open possibly in order to hold on to power himself.

The constitution limits presidents to two consecutive terms, but would allow a third term at a later date — either at the next scheduled presidential election in 2012 or in much earlier snap polls…

Moscow Carnegie Centre analyst Masha Lipman said she also thought Putin was considering a long-term return to power.

But she warned against drawing early conclusions.

“We are involved in deciphering signals from above. It’s total opaqueness in decision-making. It signifies the separation of the state from society,” she said.

Gee, this is so different from the way things were done under the bad old Soviet Union.
http://sweetness-light.com/archive/putin-fires-government-to-handpick-successor

He had a clear victory in this race, yet he sacked the cabinet to send a message of power to those around him?   sure, ok.

Quote
In remarks to Abkhaz journalists, Mr. Putin said world opinion had turned in Russia’s favor since last year, and that “practically all of international society” had acknowledged that Georgia was the aggressor in the conflict.

The war’s anniversary last week revived mutual recriminations between Russia and Georgia over who was responsible for the war, with both countries saying they acted defensively when they sent troops into South Ossetia. Both are waiting for a European Union fact-finding mission’s report on the war’s origins. The release was delayed from July until late September after new material became available.

“In the West, what is called the West, we have plenty of supporters,” Mr. Putin said, in remarks to Abkhaz journalists before his visit. “They are all under a certain pressure from NATO’s leading country, the United States. And, to put it bluntly, many of them don’t publicly state their positions, because they would then diverge from the U.S. position.”


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/world/europe/13russia.html?_r=2&hp

He's insane.



Offline Eupher

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Re: Ouch! Putin Answer About Terrorism Stuns Press Conference to Silence
« Reply #7 on: December 31, 2009, 07:12:29 PM »
Um, lurker, I don't profess to be an expert on the old Soviet Union or the current Russia. Not at all, this despite having lived in Berlin for almost 9 years.  :p

But I know enough to know that Russia has a deep-seated distrust of Europe and, by extension, the "West", that goes back hundreds of years.

Russians respect power brokers. By contrast, they loathe weakness.

I don't believe I heard anybody say that the former Soviet Union is truly changed, except that Moscow embraced capitalism with the same kind of fervor that organized criminals embraced the city. (It doesn't mean that redistribution of wealth happened, however.)

Some of the political apparatus might have altered slightly to render the appearance of a more democratic system, but the Soviet Union hasn't really changed at all - just as the Soviet Union hadn't altered significantly in terms of values following the Red Revolution in 1917. They tore down the czarist structure, but what remained was ruthless power and a continued distrust of Europe/West.

I personally think that Putin has really only one consideration - that is to advance the cause of Russia and to restore her as a superpower. He happens to think also that he's the best person to lead his country toward that goal, but to think that Putin is insane or fundamentally different than his predecessors may not see the situation from the Russian side.

His personal values and disciplines are remarkable - he loathes alcohol abuse in a country that is awash in vodka and he keeps himself in fine physical condition. You can't say the same about Boris Yeltsin, and especially Leonid Brezhnev.
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Offline formerlurker

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Re: Ouch! Putin Answer About Terrorism Stuns Press Conference to Silence
« Reply #8 on: December 31, 2009, 08:17:01 PM »
Russians are by nature paranoid.   Putin certainly defines that.    He is KGB, which clearly paints his thinking process on the sociopath range. 

You can google Putin, paranoid, isolate, U.S. and find all sorts of gems of his complete paranoia of the United States.   For instance:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,142379,00.html

He trusts no one, and rules with fear.  He may be smarter, but he (like the rest) is two steps away from Stalin.    Nothing to respect there.


Offline Thor

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Re: Ouch! Putin Answer About Terrorism Stuns Press Conference to Silence
« Reply #9 on: December 31, 2009, 10:44:08 PM »
If he's indeed "crazy", then he's crazy like a fox. Politics aside, the man is a leader with the balls to bring his country back from the brink. Sure, Russia tore down the wall as Eupher was able to witness and communism took a big hit. I'm NOT espousing communism by ANY means, I just would like to the US have a leader as strong as Putin. How many of our Presidents could kick someone's ass?? Since I've been born, NONE!!! He is the epitome of "leadership" as he leads by example. Can you say that of ANY of our Presidents over the last decade and a half?? I can't see it. A Philanderer that smokes dope?? A "Community Organizer" that smokes dope and snorts coke, A president that had bad business practices and snorted a few lines?? Sorry, they pale in comparison.
"The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation."- IBID

I AM your General Ne'er Do Well, Troublemaker & All Around Meanie!!

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Offline Chris_

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Re: Ouch! Putin Answer About Terrorism Stuns Press Conference to Silence
« Reply #10 on: December 31, 2009, 10:53:41 PM »
I'd have to agree with Thor.....with all of his warts, Putin is a leader, and apparently unafraid of anyone.  His goals for Russia notwithstanding, from purely a strength and decisiveness perspective, we could use a POTUS with his kind of leadership capabilities.

Instead, we elect wimps and metrosexual clowns, peanut farmers, and serial philanderers........kinda makes you wonder.

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Offline Oceander

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Re: Ouch! Putin Answer About Terrorism Stuns Press Conference to Silence
« Reply #11 on: December 31, 2009, 10:55:57 PM »
I'd have to agree with Thor.....with all of his warts, Putin is a leader, and apparently unafraid of anyone.  His goals for Russia notwithstanding, from purely a strength and decisiveness perspective, we could use a POTUS with his kind of leadership capabilities.

Instead, we elect wimps and metrosexual clowns, peanut farmers, and serial philanderers........kinda makes you wonder.

doc

We could use a strong leader, and even if we were unfortunate enough to get one with all the vices of Putin as well as the virtues, our system is more likely to be able to stand up to such a leader and mitigate the worst of his vices; that is one thing the Russian system cannot do, period.

Offline Thor

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Re: Ouch! Putin Answer About Terrorism Stuns Press Conference to Silence
« Reply #12 on: December 31, 2009, 11:16:39 PM »
In order to avoid a Lug Nut type incident, I want to make it crystal clear that I don't LIKE what Putin stands for, his political ideologies and I am NOT endorsing communism. I was just commenting on the man and his leadership abilities.
"The state must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people. As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation."- IBID

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Offline formerlurker

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Re: Ouch! Putin Answer About Terrorism Stuns Press Conference to Silence
« Reply #13 on: January 01, 2010, 06:40:00 AM »
 I am certainly not an expert on Russia, however I do read quite a bit and read articles on the lunacy that comes from Putin's Kremlin often -- I will start posting the good stuff at CC. 

That said, the man is not anything I would aspire to in a leader.   He is paranoid, and rules by fear -- most definitely not by respect (save for those in his flavor of the month inner circle).   

The Heritage Foundation has a great recent summary on Russia that I recommend for reading.   The short of it is Putin came into power under suspect circumstances (Yeltsin a weak man by Russian standards), and immediately tried to recapture the good old days of complete government control.  He hasn't stopped in that regard.   The Western Companies who eagerly went to the former Soviet Union to expand and profit in their new government started dropping off like flies from Putin's attempt to control them.    He completely controls his media.   Pretty anything and everything that happens to Russia which is not so good is blamed on covert master plans of the Imperialistic United States.   As his economy collapses before his eyes, civil unrest will continue to mount and old KGB boy Putin will show his real colors -- the crazy like a fox will prove to be just crazy:


Quote
The Party's Over? Even before the current economic crisis in May 2008, Russia's economic fortunes began to reverse with a series of heavy-handed government forays into economic management. Problems began with disruptions from accelerating inflation, accentuated by Putin's public and harsh criticism of the Mechel Corporation. They have included threats of price-fixing prosecutions, the fallout from the public fight between British Petroleum and Russian oligarch-owned Tyumen Oil Company (TNK) for control of the TNK-BP oil joint venture, and the August war with Georgia. These events, coupled with the unfolding global financial crisis, caused international investors to reel, the Russian stock market to plunge, and capital to flee, sending shock waves through the Russian economy and leadership.

The Kremlin has responded with harsh criticism, blaming Washington policies for the downturn and calling for replacement of the dollar in international transactions and limiting U.S. influence in international financial institutions.[12] However, the depth of the crisis and Russia's greater economic decline relative to other members of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China)[13] indicate that the roots of the crisis are internal.



Rising Unemployment and Growing Social Unrest. The crisis has also exacerbated social tensions in Russia. So far, no serious threat to the regime has materialized, despite a wave of spontaneous strikes and the use of SWAT teams to put down a demonstration in Vladivostok. Notably, the Russian  leadership showed the limits to its tolerance of public displays of dissatisfaction and its willingness to use force when it flew in riot police to put down the protest in Vladivostok.[14] Since this widely reported event, there have been additional protests and spontaneous strikes.

According to the World Bank, the number of people in Russia below the poverty line increased by 1.1 million in 2008 and will increase by 4.7 million in 2009.[15] Thus, according to official measurements, 15.5 percent of the population will be poor by the end of 2009.[16]

Putin and other politicians understand that the crisis could threaten regime stability, thus providing a social safety net has become the top Kremlin priority. Nevertheless, the regime is simultaneously increasing defense spending and procurement.[17]

The leadership's insecurity was evident in President Medvedev's orders to the law enforcement authorities to "crush" any unrest stemming from the financial crisis. The perceived threat to the Putin- Medvedev Administration may have triggered the rewriting of the Russian Constitution to extend the president's term from four years to six years and the drafting of the country's new treason law, which would put at risk anyone working with foreigners, such as Western nongovernmental organizations.[18] For now, the treason bill has been delayed by Medvedev.

Muzzling the Media. Since the beginning of the global financial crisis, the Russian leadership has tried to remain firm in the face of adversity. The media was initially required to censor itself when reporting on the crisis. In Russia's increasingly authoritarian system, the government controls most of the media, which discourages the free flow of information. It limits reporting on high-level corruption and ill-conceived policies. Yet if such coverage were allowed, it could contribute to Russia weathering this economic storm.

From the reporting on the financial crisis in the Russian media, it is extremely difficult to judge what is acceptable to publish. A prominent Russian journalist has noted, "It is hard to know what will enrage the Kremlin."[19] Closing down the political and media space for a public debate about economic policy is dangerous for Russia and makes it more opaque to the outside world.

Continuing Economic Deterioration. In 2007, the Russian economy grew by 8.1 percent, but by the fourth quarter of 2008, GDP growth had fallen to 1.1 percent. The Russian Ministry of Economic Development is now projecting a 8.5 percent decline for 2009, an improvement over the annualized 10 percent decline for the first half of 2009. This shows that the ministry is expecting the beginning of a recovery. Industrial production grew by 6.3 percent in 2007 and grew at a 7 percent annual rate through May 2008. It then fell by more than 6.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 and almost 15 percent in the first half of 2009. Fixed investment has reversed even more dramatically, rising by more than 20 percent in 2007 through May 2008, turning negative in the fourth quarter of 2008, and then falling by more than 18 percent in the first half of 2009.

According to the World Bank, Russian reserves (including gold) plummeted from $597 billion in July 2008 to $384 billion in February 2009.[20] They recovered in May 2009 to $404 billion. Capital flows reversed dramatically, with an outflow of $130.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008 after an inflow of $17.4 billion in the third quarter. Capital flight has continued into 2009, largely using "bailout money," albeit at a diminished rate due to the rise in oil prices and the ruble exchange rate. The Russian stock market suffered the worst collapse of any major emerging market, before rebounding some 90 percent since March 2009.

Finally, the energy sector, the primary engine of the phenomenal growth of the past decade, has been suffering. Despite the growing need for new sources of oil and gas, all producers have been forced to cut back investment plans as they scramble to repay debt assumed in better times. While Gazprom is still profitable, its capitalization has collapsed, forcing cutbacks in the development of new offshore fields, such as Shtockman in the Barents Sea and Kovytka in Eastern Siberia. This explains Putin's invitation to the major international oil companies to visit the Yamal Peninsula, which has massive gas reserves, and Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev's promises to liberalize the strategic investment law.

Strong Fiscal Response.[21] Although delayed, the Russian economic policy response to the crisis was strong. The Russian Central Bank launched an effective policy of managed devaluation, exploiting its massive $600 billion reserves, while the Russian government launched a broad rescue effort, announcing almost 6 trillion rubles ($195 billion and 13.6 percent of GDP) in financial support packages for Russian banks and businesses.[22]

The five main state banks orchestrated the rescue operations with the aim of expanding state control over key sectors of the economy and preventing foreign banks from taking over Russian corporations that could not repay their debts. The immediate problem was dealing with Russian banks' and businesses' $400 billion in foreign debt, of which 10 percent required refinancing, and the threatened foreign seizure of Russian assets that they had pledged as collateral. This strong dirigiste response stabilized the decline by mid 2009, allowing the "development debate" to resume.

The Development Debate. Since the crisis began to unfold, the Institute for Contemporary Development, a think tank in Moscow that is close to Medvedev, and some pro-reform economists have repeatedly pointed out that excessive dependence on commodity exports hurts the country, amplifies the consequences of the crisis, and overcentralizes economic control.[23] Knowledge-based growth has become the rallying cry of economic reformers who identify with Medvedev as well as a political banner for power struggle.

For now, the energy and state security lobbies are stronger than the reformers. First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and other siloviki (law enforcement and security senior officials) recognize that diffusion of economic power may mean the decentralization of political power. Thus, even before the crisis, the siloviki launched a series of attacks on Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin and jailed one of his deputies. Despite state control of the national television channels, some fissures in the governing elites are becoming obvious in print media and policy conferences, especially after President Medvedev published his reform manifesto.[24] The U.S. government needs to take these fissures into account when calibrating its communication strategy with Moscow.

Russian Foreign and Economic Policy Since the Crisis

Since President Obama's July 7 visit to Moscow, Russia has become at times more receptive to U.S. overtures, in that it allows overflight and transshipment of U.S. and NATO cargoes to Afghanistan, backed off threats to target Poland with nuclear weapons, and has engaged in arms control negotiations.

However, the Kremlin has shown no significant cooperation on Iran. It has unquestioningly recognized the results of the contested Iranian presidential election and provided a stage for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Yekaterinburg in June.[25] Russia is also taking a harder line with Georgia and Ukraine, hurling baseless accusations that the Obama Administration is encouraging Georgia to rearm and threatening further military action in the Trans-Caucasus.

The Russian-Ukrainian gas conflict of January 2009 demonstrated how Moscow's business interests have made Europe dangerously dependent on Russian oil and gas. Russia currently supplies two-thirds of Europe's natural gas imports and 42 percent of total European gas consumption. Some Central European countries depend on Russia for more than 90 percent of their natural gas. By 2030, Europe will import 84 percent of its gas.[26] Europe has not developed alternative sources of gas, and some countries have rejected nuclear power and coal.

Thus, Europe has made itself dependent on a monopolistic, state-controlled commodity supplier.[27] The European Union and individual countries recognize that their energy dependence will have severe national security repercussions, but they are undertaking few measures to reduce their dependence on Russia. One effort is the construction of the Nabucco gas pipeline, which would bypass Russia.

More ominously, some Russian leaders and parts of the media are now repeating Putin's contention that Ukraine is not a "real" state. [28] Russia has launched a similar propaganda campaign denying Georgia the right of statehood.

Russia's relations with Georgia are even worse than with Ukraine. Since the August 2008 war,Russia has been pressuring Georgia militarily. Russian challenges to Georgian independence--in violation of the Medvedev-Sarkozy 2008 ceasefire agreement--include establishing military bases in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, recognizing their independence from Georgia, and signing a status-of-forces agreement with the two secessionist territories. Putin has declared that Russia will spend $500 million for military bases in Abkhazia.

Furthermore, on October 23, the Duma approved President Medvedev's request to amend Russia's defense laws to permit deployment of Russian troops abroad without parliamentary approval. The Russian president can now send troops for such reasons as defense of Russian citizens abroad, repelling an attack on Russian military units deployed outside the country, repelling or preventing an armed attack on another state asking Russia for military assistance, combating piracy, and safeguarding commercial shipping. This is a clear threat to every former Soviet state from the Baltic to Central Asia. It also implicitly acknowledges that the troop deployment in the 2008 war against Georgia may have been illegal under Russian law.[29]

While Russia has acquiesced to a NATO presence in the Manas airport in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, it has moved to establish a new military base in Kyrgyzstan in the volatile Fergana Valley.[30] The Kremlin apparently believes that it has enough resources to conduct influence operations, pursue ambitious military reforms, develop new pipeline projects that compete with projects promoted by the EU and U.S., and selectively support its allies in the geographically undefined "spheres of exclusive interests" as proclaimed by President Medvedev in his televised address on August 31, 2008.[31]

In the long term, Moscow will use its resources to create a multipolar world in which U.S. interests are circumscribed. The economic crisis did not generate sufficient internal unrest or instability to change the prevailing foreign policy paradigms. Moreover, some factions in the Russian leadership find it opportune to blame the United States for Russia's troubles, from the economic decline to the violence in Northern Caucasus.[32]
http://www.heritage.org/Research/RussiaandEurasia/bg2333.cfm

Offline Eupher

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Re: Ouch! Putin Answer About Terrorism Stuns Press Conference to Silence
« Reply #14 on: January 01, 2010, 07:48:46 PM »
That's an interesting article, but I'm hardly surprised by its conclusions.

For several years now, Putin has been rattling his saber with ever-increasing intensity. There have been several incidents in which Russian submarines or surface vessels or even bombers have ventured a lot farther than they had previously - all of this as a sign that Russia is not a country that had gone to Third World status (though some would argue that point).

When the global economy started hitting the shitter, Russia absolutely had to be a part of that since they're heavily into gas and oil. So it's no surprise to see the numbers that are posted within the article. Everybody worldwide took a hit, why shouldn't the Russians as well?

[shrugs]. I dunno. I'm personally not at surprised at Putin's actions in the same manner that I wasn't surprised to read the several accounts that I have that suggest that Putin isn't doing anything that other Soviet-era leaders haven't already done.

The distrust of the West that has been a part of the Russian thought process for the past 300-400 years did not go away when Gorbachev's reforms hit the street and the Soviet Union tanked. And I sincerely doubt that Russia really considers herself anything but Russian, although I read an article somewhere on line that showed a whole bunch of 'em definitely had some good things to say about good ol' Joe S.

So again, not much has changed. Is Putin evil? Sure, he's evil, just as Yeltsin was evil, Gorbachev before him, Andropov, and the rest of the General Secretaries of the Communist Party.

Putin simply isn't happy with Russia sucking hind tit behind China and even India. So Putin has to do what he has to do to give himself relevance.
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