Iraq War Was Unjustified, Putin Says

[kskiska]

Russian President Vladimir Putin says the US-led war in Iraq was unjustified because it was not authorised by the United Nations Security Council.

"The use of force abroad, according to existing international laws, can only be sanctioned by the United Nations. This is the international law," Mr Putin said in an annual live televised question-and-answer session.

"Everything that is done without the UN Security Council's sanction cannot be recognised as fair or justified.

"I am being as restrained as I can be when I choose these words," he said.

The comments came only hours before Mr Putin was due to meet in Moscow with US envoy James Baker, who is trying to convince the international community to write off Iraq's crushing $US120 billion debt.

(snip)

He also suggested that the United States may be suffering from over-confidence on the international sphere, warning that "empires" had fallen before from feeling too strong and using their military might indiscriminately.

"I must say that in all times, great countries, empires, always suffered a series of problems that complicated their situation - this was a feeling of invulnerability, a feeling of grandeur, and a feeling that it never sins," Mr Putin said.

more…
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1013128.htm

[mikehiggins]

1. See? He isn't totally evil.

Or maybe he's just admiring how Dubya got away with it.

[kalian]

2. Welll...shrub did say that he would have to consult with his lawyers....

:eyes:
And besides...he could care less about what the international
community thinks in the first place.
We need to get this idiot out of the WH...now!

[Judi Lynn]

3. Way to go!

(snip) "But as for Iraq, this is a separate matter. There were no international terrorists under Hussein. (snip/)

It's just WONDERFUL hearing these words from the guy George Bush appeared to think he had eating from the palm of his hand.

[54anickel]

4. Why do I not have a warm fuzzy feeling knowing that Shrub has ticked off

Russia?

[Dookus]

5. while I admire his stanced on Iraq...

I don't recall the Security Council authorizing a war in Chechnya, either.

[short bus president]

7. that was not "use of force abroad"

but "use of force domestically." Not to excuse it - just pointing out that Putin parses his words very carefully, too.

[Imajika]

8. Or the war in Kosovo

Don't forget Russia bitterly complained about that too.

Imajika

[NNN0LHI]

14. But even Bush is calling them Chechen's terrorists these days

http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/2003/03/03032003162733.asp

U.S.: Washington Designates Three Chechen Groups As Terrorist Organizations

By Jeffrey Donovan

Washington, which last year accused Russia of using "overwhelming force" against civilians in Chechnya, appears to be changing tack. For the first time, the United States has designated some Chechen rebel groups as terrorists. As RFE/RL reports, the move could have wider implications.

Washington, 3 March 2003 (RFE/RL) -- In a step that Moscow has been encouraging for more than a year, the U.S. State Department says it has designated three Chechen rebel groups as terrorist organizations with links to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told a briefing on 28 February that the Chechen groups were directly involved in taking more than 800 hostages at a Moscow theater last October, which resulted in the deaths of 129 hostages, most by gas sprayed by Russian forces ending the siege.

Boucher told reporters, "In making this designation, the United States calls on all Chechen leaders to renounce terrorist acts and to cut any ties they may have to these terrorist groups and all who are affiliated with them."

The groups were listed as the Riyadus-Salikhin Reconnaissance and Sabotage Battalion of Chechen Martyrs, the Special-Purpose Islamic Regiment, and the Islamic International Brigade.

more

[DemoTex]

6. Bingo!

Bu$h buddy busts baby's butt.

[MoonAndSun]

9. bush* needs to have Pooty-Poot come back to the pig farm

so he can look into his soul again. :evilgrin:

Putin runs circles around AWOL and the doofus doesn't even know which direction Putin is going.

[salin]

12. that same line (about looking into the eyes and seeing his soul)

ran through my head as well.

Have to wonder - do his handlers keep this information away from W so he can keep his simplistic view of the world and world leaders (and self image - that everyone loves and admires him) in tact?

Wonder how the neocons - some who are long-term cold warriors - read this rhetoric from former KGB-head Putin?

[kskiska]

13. I remember how * draped his arm around Pootie-Poot

in a big brother type of way, guiding him through their press conference. Putin must have been inwardly laughing hilariously at the Chimp.

[ConcernedCanuk]

10. WOW - "warning that "empires" had fallen before " - not shy this Putin !!

. . listen up Georgie-Boy,

Dis guy has just about as many nukes as you do !!

and a feck of a lot more brains !!

[bpilgrim]

11. forget about N. Korea... looks like the BEAR is ready to rumble

not good with the neoCONs at the helm...

wonder what condi thinks of this new developement? will the media ask her opinion or is she too busy cleaning up rummys mess in iraq still?

i guess the DOOMSDAY COMPUTERS are keeping an EYE on EVERYTHING



peace

[ConcernedCanuk]

15. of COURSE the bear is "rumbling, that's Putins "back-yard" that Junior

. . is feckin around in

. . and IF the USA tries anything in NK

. . well, the military are so over extended NOW, in an unjustified, unpopular, and unwinable war, that the USA is getting VERY close to being the "vulnerable" one.

They've already achieved, thanks to their death-dealing pResident, being the most disrespected and hated nation on earth.

The fear factor is gone now, I mean them under-armed Iraqis keeping the USA at bay with what would compare to bows and arrows against gattling guns.

The world has noticed.

One more year of GeeDubya and the USA may never recover in the eyes of the world as a "decent" nation.

[MoonAndSun]

16. Isn't Condi suppose to be the Russian expert? That stupid fool

has no clue of what is going on anywhere in the world. I want her in front of Congress testifying why she lied to the world and said her bit about having no idea anyone would fly planes into the Twin Towers. She should have a special place in hell just for her.

[tlcandie]

17. Neos will spin this that they have no clue why he is upset and

being so childish about the Iraqi contracts if he didn't believe in or back the war. I mean after all why do you want in on the $$$ but not the pain.

[Gloria]

18. CENTRAL ASIA’S GREAT BASE RACE (US-Russia at odds)

From the current World Media Watch....

5//Asia Times Online December 19, 2003

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/EL19Ag01.html



CENTRAL ASIA’S GREAT BASE RACE

By Stephen Blank
Stephen Blank is an analyst of international security affairs, residing in Harrisburg, Pa.




(SNIP)



Russia pressures states to oppose US bases


Quite recently, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Georgia, almost certainly due to Russian pressure, announced their opposition to permanent US bases in their territory, once the "war against terrorism" is over. Indeed, Kyrgyzstan's government reversed its earlier stand on bases - that the US could stay as long as necessary.

This struggle over bases has grown as the US has embarked on a global restructuring of its basing system. This impending reordering has clearly triggered Moscow's defensive and imperial reflexes. Due to Washington's changed perception of contemporary strategic realities, there is good reason to believe the US is seeking some form of regularized access to, if not permanent basing rights, in at least some of the post-Soviet republics.

(SNIP)



And so the rivalries of the great powers, Russia and America, India and Pakistan - and China as well - now fully embrace Central Asia. There is a distinct possibility that the former Soviet Union will be divided into staging grounds for rival blocs that ultimately are enmeshed in conflicts triggered by or for their proxies with another great power - or its proxies.

Since most of these foreign military installations are air bases, ground forces to defend them will eventually appear. The specific locations of these bases in the Caucasus and Central Asia and China's recent maneuvers with Kyrgyzstan's armed forces reliably suggest where the major powers think Central Asian governments are in trouble and how they will "help" them.

These bases, however, are by no means the only ways in which the states of the former Soviet Union have undergone a progressive militarization. Add the influx of weapons, the drug trade, the rise of terrorism and the pervasive misrule in these states, and it is easy to see that the combustible elements that can explode into conflict are gradually being assembled and readied for use.



(MORE)

[tlcandie]

19. Nice visual of US bases atm and future expected, etc. in the area..

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/trade.center/military.map.html


Will help you to see more clearly!

[TheWebHead]

20. at this rate

the Repukes will have to end their fantasy 'Reagan ended the cold war' line and we'll have a new 'Bush Jr. began the new cold war' sequel...

[DivinBreuvage]

21. Bah! Nothing but more hot air from Europe.

Not that I think Europe is on the wrong side of this argument. But France, Germany, and Russia have moaned and wrung their hands about this from the beginning, yet when the time comes to play their hand they either knuckle under (doubtless in exchange for any number of under-the-table concessions) or refuse to give aid (which may inconvenience but does not put a stop to the behavior they claim to despise). They are not going to actively interfere, and the Monkey Club knows it.

I'm not even sure there's a great deal Putin is going to be willing to do about US military bases in the former Soviet republics, other than run his mouth off and try to pressure the governments of those countries to take a tougher stance than he's willing to take himself.

I think what this is, is little more than Putin playing to the Russian peanut gallery. I'm sure he'd just love to see the US knocked down a couple of pegs, but he's not going to be the guy to do it.

I think Europe could put a stop to it if it really wanted. Say for instance Bush gets the White House again in 2004 and it "suddenly" turns out that Syria was behind 9/11. If France, Germany, and Russia sent troops to Damascus and made it clear that their suffering injury in a military strike were tantamount to war I believe it would force Bush to back down. It's clear that the Neocons are considerably less prudent than real statesmen should be, but I don't think they're that imprudent. Still, sending those troops would cost a lot of money, could cause political trouble at home, and would carry a very real risk.

I really think Europe's goal is to sit back and watch the US string out enough rope to hang itself, while wringing as much profit out of it as they can and issuing a fiery denunciation every now and then to keep the home front riled up: "Did you just hear Putin rip the Americans a new one? I love that tough talk. He wants a strong Russia. He gets my vote!"

[TheLastMohican]

22. The way I see it

I think France, Russia and Germany wage a very careful and smart politics. Do we need another World War? Hack NO, then why do we have to escalate it and bring more nations into the fold. The best way is act by chinese saying: "if you sit by the river long enough, your enemy's corpse will swim by sooner or later".
With current administration in USA strangles itself in Iraq, digging a deeper grave for itself with each day. This war will go on for years unless they decide to leave. But leaving will break their "almighty, kick-ass-around" image big time. And so this war will drag on for a long time.
So basically european nations sit idly because they know they will achieve more with that stance rather than pushing their balls to the wall which is totally unneccesary.

[cliss]

23. Bush had better put Q-tips in his ears

and pay attention to what Putin is saying. I have read other quotes by him recently, and he's saying pretty much the same thing: the US was going against international law when it invaded Iraq. The US has been arrogant, aggressive, aggrandized, lots of a-words.

In other words, he's pissed. He's feeling frustrated that Russia's old arch-enemy can wipe its feet on the rest of the world, seemingly without retribution.

We had better be watching not only his words, but also his deeds.