Putin Criticizes Bush, with a Warning

[Tsiyu]

Reporter quoted former ABC reporter at press conference, on Putins words. To wit:

...certain factions of the Bush Administration have been meddling in Russian affairs and interfering with Chechnyan insurgency...he reminded US that Russia remains a nuclear power.

Whoa!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[LisaL]

1. Where, or where did all that love go?

[skooooo]

38. The love went with the OBGYNs...

haven't you heard :)

[katmondoo]

42. I wonder if my OBGYN still loves Bush

after this remark. I wore an anti-Bush button for my appointment. This was not well received.

[skooooo]

52. What was the reaction??

Dirty looks from the secretary? Do tell.

[Tsiyu]

2. On Nightline minutes ago

Is the whole world pissed at us?

[LisaL]

3. Sure looks like it.

Except for Israel, of course.

[Mokito]

66. Are you sure about Israel? The whole spy thingy didn't sit well with them.

[truthisfreedom]

4. aww, pootie-poot-poot! what's gotten your snootie-snoot-snoot bent out

of shape? a little taste of our sicko president and his band of merry meddling lawbreakers?

[lebkuchen]

5. Putin is going to love Bush's plan to move troops to Uzbekistan

nt

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

6. Putin does not mince words and has been striaght up with Shrubby

ever since Rummy et al started with the cowboy rhetoric.

We are being governed by fools.

[KansDem]

60. ...and fooled by governors!

But no longer!

[Spazito]

7. Gee, I guess bush's offer to help with the hostage situation was...

seen for what it was, a crass political ploy, roflmao!

[Gloria]

8. "Interfering"------I want to know more!

eom

[smirkymonkey]

65. Here you go....

American Committee for "Peace" in Chechnya (quotations mine)
http://www.peaceinchechnya.org/

Check out the member list:
http://rightweb.irc-online.org/org/acpc.php
"Founded in 1999 by Freedom House, the American Committee for Peace in Chechnya (ACPC) purports to be "the only private, non-governmental organization in North America exclusively dedicated to promoting the peaceful resolution of the Russo-Chechen war." Chaired by Zbigniew Brzezinski, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., Steven J. Solarz, and Max Kampelman, the committee's more than one hundred members reflect a wide range of political tendencies. Along with the likes of Richard Gere, Morton Ambramowitz, and Geraldine Ferraro, on its membership rolls are a long list of high-profile neocons and hawks like Richard Perle, Frank Gaffney, Elliott Abrams, Midge Decter, William Kristol, Michael Ledeen, and James Woolsey." more....

There are lots of nice words about peace, love and understanding, however I think the subtext is basically "must get control of Blue Stream Pipeline."

See this IWPR article:
"TUG OF WAR - Russia and America play a tense game of political chess in the South Caucasus."
http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/cau/cau_200012_61_03_eng.txt

[still_one]

9. It was never that good with bush

this stupid administration was pushing for Chechnyan independence

when they should have been minding their own business

It is an internal affair

We cannot be the world's policeman...

[Cha]

17. And pray tell.. why were they pushing

for "Chechnyan independence"?

[ellie]

54. Doesn't Chechnya have oil?

[lovuian]

56. No but Russia has Oil lots of it and Putin ticked off Bush

by jailing the Bush Man Oligarch and taking over Yukos

But Bush is crazy if he thinks Putin is a Pushover like the Democrats

[jmcgowanjm]

61. Yes, Chechnya does have oil and just reopened Refinery

and the only pipeline transfering oil from the Caspian thru
the Caucasus to Russia.

Home made gasoline is a Chechen trademark.

[Gregorian]

10. Let me guess

Gee, now bush can justify the Missile Defense system. The fun never stops- stir up the hornet's nest, and the defense contractors benefit. Simple and easy stratagery.

[Zomby Woof]

11. hey what the hell

Let's have Cold War II to go with all the others... :nuke:

[leesa]

44. The cold war was GREAT for the defense industry. That's why it's

such a hoot when they pretend Raygun ended the Cold War. Why on earth would he want to do that?? All it did was end one of the best scams they had going. They had to go out and find a new boogieman...Muslims.

[daleo]

12. Bush better have another look at Putin's soul

Something seems to have gone wrong with it.

[AKing]

26. W Stands For WRONG! nt

[slojim240]

13. The President who re-kindled the cold war and stoked it hot!

He makes history again. Biggest loss of job, biggest deficit, most divided country, most hated man in the world ruling the most hated nation, most stupid President: what else?

[Cha]

16. I think you've covered it!

Unless you want to throw in something about how they're poisoning our air and waterways!

[acmavm]

14. bush* may think he's Barney Badass but when it comes to Putin, he

isn't even in the same league. NONE of these clowns are. Putin came up through the ranks of the KGB. He knows how to play dirty. He's not someone that bush* better push or he'll find his ass (and ours) in some really deep shit.

[bobbieinok]

19. I remember a picture of W, Putin, and leader of mainland China

and I thought 'it's come to this..leader of US with 2 merciless dictators......I guess this is the company W sees himself as part of'

[Nebraska_Liberal]

34. i dunno about that....

Im not sure that Putin came through the KGB, but I do know that he worked as an aid in the Duma when he was a young guy...

[acmavm]

35. From Putin's web biography:

http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Parliament/5160/Putin/career.html

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin studied law at State University in St Petersburg, then known as Leningrad. After graduating in 1975, he worked in the KGB's foreign intelligence service, mainly in Germany. He left the KGB in 1990 and became an ally of liberal Anatoly Sobchak, the mayor of St Petersburg, whom he met during his study.

[Crachet2004]

62. He was KGB station chief in Dresden, East Germany...

It has long been great fun for the US to stir up the muslims along Russia's southern tier, sometimes through the agency of Turkey.

Old, Cold War habits die hard, I guess.

[Cha]

15. Sooner or later the amateur bushtards are going

to get the shit beaten out of them, metaphorically speaking, of course.

[Zynx]

18. Georgia

That's what Putin's pissed about, and you can't really blame him. He's also trying to equate the pro-US government in Georgia with the Chechens, so that he can go smashy-smashy with solid domestic support.

[allemand]

39. Exactly. And "the attackers wore NATO-issued camouflage".

"The attackers wore NATO-issued camouflage. They carried gas masks, compasses and first-aid kits. They communicated with hand-held radios, and brought along two sentry dogs, as expertly trained as the attackers themselves, the officials said. All suggested detailed planning, including surveillance and possibly rehearsals, the officials said."
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/06/international/europe/06plot.html?hp

Probably you get such camouflage on the black marked with a discount, but the Georgian army is also very proud of its new NATO-issued uniforms.

Tensions are high between Russia and Georgia because of the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

Georgia wants Russian troops out
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3561138.stm

South Ossetia: Thorn in Georgia's side
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3579038.stm

S Ossetians remain defiant under fire
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3583306.stm

Georgia starts S Ossetia pullout
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3581046.stm

Georgian laser show taunts Russia
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3594352.stm

Georgia asks for TV crew release
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3632094.stm

[Capt_Nemo]

46. Exactly! This is his pretext to annex South Ossetia and Abkhazia

and ruin Halliburton's pipeline from the Caspian, Just like 9/11
was the PNACers' pretext for regime change wars in the ME.

[Nordic]

20. Cheney to Putin -- "Go fuck yourself!"

Why, oh, why, are the babies in charge of our government?

[IndianaGreen]

21. Putin is the one in trouble, for lying and for incompetence

Let us not forget that Putin decided to continue to wage Russia's criminal war in Chechnya that the drunkard Boris Yeltsin started.

While the killing of the innocents of Beslan must be condemned by all peace loving peoples of the world, we cannot ignore the fate of Chechen innocents that the Russians have been slaughtering out of sight of the Western press.

From the BBC:

Putin under pressure over siege

Anger

Russia's newspapers have also been asking questions.

Even normally pro-Putin papers, such as Moskovsky Komsomolets, are critical of the government's handling of the crisis.

And journalists and media organisations claim some reporters have been prevented from covering fully the events in Beslan.

The editor of one of Russia's biggest newspapers, Izvestia, said he was forced to resign on Monday because the paper's coverage was considered too emotional.

Arabic television station, Al-Arabiya, says its Moscow correspondent was arrested on his return from Beslan, and Georgia says two of its journalists had been detained.

Meanwhile, BBC correspondents in Beslan say anger in the town, with a population of some 30,000, is being directed at neighbouring Ingushetia.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3633296.stm

[loudsue]

22. Good Grief, IG! They're sounding just like the USA!

Cops & lumberlords putting pepper spray in the eyes of chained up protesters here, Rove/Cheney outing Plame to ward off investigations of black market WMD's, and our journalists getting fired if they get off message

JUST LIKE IN THE GOOD OLD SOVIET UNION <USSR by any other name smells the same>.

Slaughers in South and West Africa, Taliban... it seems governments have just decided they're on top, and there's no room for PEOPLE WITH RIGHTS walking around.

I hope Europe stays fairly sane for a while.

What in the hell is this world coming to???

Nevermind...I'm not sure I want to know the answer to that.

:kick::kick:

[Tsiyu]

23. Amen, Sister

There's something happenin' here
What it is ain't exactly clear....

[Renew Deal]

24. There was an implicit warning the other day.

I am looking for it. But Putin hinted at something and it seemed like it was directed at the US. I guess it was.

[Hard Attack]

25. Last Month: ''Moscow slams Chechen's US asylum''

August 6, 2004 / BBC

Russian officials have condemned a decision by the US to grant asylum to a high-ranking Chechen separatist, who Moscow says is a terrorist.

Ilyas Akhmadov was foreign minister in the separatist Chechen government led by Aslan Maskhadov from 1997 to 1999.

The senior pro-Russian Chechen official in Moscow described the move as a "sign of US double standards".



Here is the Link to the whole story
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3542560.stm

*** HE WAS GIVEN ASYLUM 2 YRS AGO ACCORDING TO THIS REPORT

[Kimber Scott]

36. So, now we're harboring terrorists. That makes us vulnerable to

a pre-emptive strike. Theoretically, anyway. God, what is happening?

[Oilwellian]

27. This could be why...

THE WAR IN CHECHNYA
With regard to Chechnya, the main rebel leaders Shamil Basayev and Al Khattab were trained and indoctrinated in CIA sponsored camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan

http://www.globalexchange.org/countries/afghanistan/chossudovsky091201.html

Russia Hostage Suspect Has Violent Past

Associated Press


MOSCOW - The Chechen warlord who is suspected by Russian officials of masterminding the hostage-taking at a school in southern Russia threatened earlier in the summer to launch new attacks to avenge the killing of a Chechen rebel leader.

Russian security officials accused Shamil Basayev of planning the seizure of the school with al-Qaida financing, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported Friday, after the standoff turned to bloodshed, with Russian troops storming the school.

http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/9576190.htm

The game plan...

The U.S. has invested heavily in the Caspian region. U.S. companies have put many billions of dollars into oil and gas projects and both the Clinton and Bush administrations have worked hard to curry favor with the former Soviet republics and limit the influence of Russia, Iran and China in the process.

As Anna Borg, a deputy assistant secretary for energy issues at the State Department told Congress in 2003, "The U.S. government and State Department are focusing on extensively."

Since 2001, the U.S. has not only established military bases in the region but it has also conducted joint Navy exercises with Azerbaijan in the Caspian and has supported Kazakhstan's push to establish its own Navy. The U.S. Coast Guard even patrols the Caspian Sea and the combined U.S. military presence makes Russia -- whose Caspian fleet has long exercised de-facto control over the sea -- very edgy.

As General Charles Wald, deputy commander of the U.S. European Command, explained to the Wall Street Journal in June 2003, "In the Caspian you have large mineral reserves ... We want to be able to assure the long-term viability of those resources."

Of central concern to the U.S. is the Baku to Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, a million-barrel-a-day project headed by BP, running from Baku, Azerbaijan, through Nagorno Karabak, a region claimed by both Azerbaijan and Armenia, into the turbulent republic of Georgia and on to the Black Sea port of Ceyhan. From there, oil would be shipped via tanker through the Bosphorus and into the Mediterranean on its way to Europe and the U.S.

The BTC pipeline will start carrying oil in 2005 but it runs through a smorgasbord of ethnic unrest. With new military bases in Romania and Bulgaria, a U.S. rapid response force is in easy reach of the Caucasus region to counter any threat to the smooth supply of Caspian Oil. And in Georgia, U.S. forces have been training the local military to counter armed Islamic groups operating out of the lawless Pankisi gorge. The stated purpose of this training is to fight the War on Terror, but insurgent activity now also threatens world oil security.
http://p088.ezboard.com/fdownstreamventurespetroleummarkets.showMessage?topicID=10035.topic

[Tsiyu]

28. All the World's "Leaders"

are like greedy kids at a birthday party, sitting around the table with their arms clutching their goodies, screaming, "Mine! Mine!"

[IndianaGreen]

29. Once again our foolish desire to topple the Marxist Afghan government

has resulted in a bad case of blowback. What possessed two American Presidents, Carter and Reagan, to oppose a popular Marxist government that gave women full equality and support a bunch of religious fanatics that hated the West and hated women?

How many Americans still refer to the "Soviet invasion of Afghanistan" which was nothing more than American propaganda with little basis in fact?

[Renew Deal]

31. US is running a campaign to ignite civil war in Chechnya over oil pipes.

That's what this guy says. He says it's part of a plan for global domination.

<snip>
The post Cold War period has also been marked by numerous US covert intelligence operations within the former Soviet Union, which were instrumental in triggering civil wars in several of the former republics including Chechnya (within the Russian Federation), Georgia and Azerbaijan. In the latter, these covert operations were launched with a view to securing strategic control over oil and gas pipeline corridors.
<snip>

http://www.williambowles.info/guests/global_dom.html

[IndianaGreen]

32. The smoldering conflict between Georgia and Russia is Putin's doing

America has nothing to do with that. The two countries are on the verge of war!

[Aidoneus]

40. not exactly.. (long & detailed)

South Ossetia & Abkhazia are leftovers from earlier times, not really much to do with Putin either. Do not give the US no credit there, though more recently it would be more effectual. I'm not one to take some poisoned barb away from Putin's direction, but his part in the matter is mostly 'being there' rather than a grand schemer.

Interestingly, Abkhazia was perhaps the last time the Kremlin & Chechen Resistance Commander Shamil Basayev were on the same page about something. `Abdullah Shamil--along with his brother Shirvani, and the Martyred (this last winter, for the 90th and final death for him) Commander Khamzat Gelayev, among hundreds of other North Caucasus volunteers--, first cut their teeth fighting with the Abkhaz against the then-new Western backed ex-communist Georgian dictator/democrat, all with Russian arms, training, and guidance. I wonder if the GRU are proud of their creation, now 13yrs on considered the least wanted man in Russia's corner of the world (and a fine one at that)?

Eventually, Shevardnaze got into some trouble as ex-President Zviad Gamsakhurdia (first president of independent Georgia and first to recognize the independence of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, where he later spent his exile after a military coup d`etat installed ex-Soviet Foreign Minister Shevardnaze like most of the rest of the "ex"-Soviet Republics; Bush1 & Baker didn't like about the democrat Zviad and backed the communist instead ... no Republican thought too much about that statement) had retaken much of the western part of the country in the next year's civil war. Russia offered to bail Shevardnaze out for a price--in exchange for Russian military bases and certain economic controls. The latter crippled certain of Georgia's industries, electricity one of them though partly on their own merits, and the former gave a direction for popular venting. The President had since been buying guns & "advisors" from Freedomland, mostly under the oil'n'gun(copyright DTF) gangs currently seeking new properties to be eventually defeated in.

It was Gamsakhurdia that first revoked the 'special status' of South Ossetia and besieged their capital, sparking serious battles; this was stopped by Shevardnaze just as the Abkhaz war was beginning, resulting in a net loss for the campaign. The new dictator Saakashvili, who deposed the old ex-'communist'/rechristened 'democratic' elected-dictator, doing so with new American-Democrats' best friend (but still untrustworthy capitalist billionaire troublemaker) Soros' money and a rented crowd, has been described by a writer at Sobaka as a Slobo--backed by the "West" this time. Instantly this man was greeted by the Bush gang, was fellated by our own corporate press, then gagged their own, and made threats towards ... well, anybody. Boats going into Abkhazia would be sunk, with a hapless Turkish ship fired on; Ajaria was threatened with war, though he blinked when the guy (apparently a pro-Shevardnaze fief-lord not happy with the coup, more importantly--backed by Russia) didn't actually crumble; and more clearly, a series of barks at South Ossetia which have since moved to skirmishes in a slow boil of a potential war. That not being enough, now apparently they're on a collision with Russia over all of the above.

Don't try too hard to understand the whole of this.. it is but a conspiracy by the Aspirin and similar corporations, I suspect. My writing style can't be helping such matters too terribly much:--too many words crammed into too few sentences with strange punctuational excuses invented to manage this with an air of grace.. like most times for me, I suppose.

I have undoubtably left much out..

Some old & new (mainly old) pieces of interest, mainly al-Jazeera or Sobaka because I'm a lazy shit 'right now':
a pro-Gamsakhurdia bio from Sobaka
US State Dept. chronology on Georgia-Abkhaz relations (note: last time I'll use the US gov't as a source for anything but contempt)
Georgia threatens rebel region
Saakashvili Strikes Ajaria Deal
Sobaka -- GEORGIA: Welcome to America's New El Salvador
Diary from the End of the World--Mar'02
Sobaka -- Homage to Tskhinvali: America and the South Ossetian War

etc..

As usual, nobody here but bemildred seemed to notice at the time:--quite well-read & one of the smart ones, he is.

[IndianaGreen]

67. Excellent post!

And as you said, it will take a while to digest. Thanks for the links!

[UpInArms]

51. don't discount Hellaburnin's influence here

http://www.halliburton.com/news/archive/2001/esgnws_051501.jsp

2001 Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 15, 2001

HALLIBURTON SUBSEA OPENS CASPIAN MARINE BASE

ABERDEEN, Scotland - Halliburton International Inc. and KASPMORNEFTELOT (KMNF), the marine division of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), have entered into a 12-year contract for a marine base and associated services to support Halliburton Subsea offshore construction activity in the Caspian region. Halliburton Subsea is a business unit of Halliburton Company's (NYSE: HAL) Energy Services Group.

The base, with a 6,000-square metre lay down area, is located at KMNF's Southern Basin adjacent to Caspian Shipyard. The base will be primarily utilized to support Halliburton Subsea's catamaran crane vessel Qurban Abbasov (previously known as the Titan 4) during the restoration and upgrade of the vessel and during the forthcoming offshore construction, pipelay and subsea activities. The site will also be developed to provide warehouse, office and training facilities that will include advanced diver and life support technician training, utilizing the company’s 16-man modular saturation system.

The Qurban Abbasov is operated by Halliburton Subsea in an alliance agreement with SOCAR for a period of 12 years. It will provide an advanced, stable, dynamically positioned construction platform for saturation and remote vehicle diving; flexible and bundle pipeline installation with trenching; emergency pipeline repair, subsurface well intervention with wire line; and coiled tubing. It also will be used in flotel configuration for hook-up and commissioning work.

"The acquisition of the marine base is a further indication of our commitment to the Caspian region and to the success of the partnership arrangements with SOCAR," said Edgar Ortiz, president and chief executive officer, Halliburton’s Energy Services Group.

Halliburton's Energy Services Group (ESG) delivers real-time systems, technologies, and services to the upstream oil and gas industry. The Halliburton Subsea segment of ESG provides comprehensive subsea engineering, installation, and construction with a fleet of 84 ROVs, six construction and survey class Dynamic Positioning (DP) vessels, three construction class DP semi-submersibles and an array of subsea production equipment. The depth and breadth of the Energy Services Group's integrated products, services, and solutions allows its customers to more efficiently, find, develop, and produce oil and gas reservoirs.

...more...

[Jim__]

58. Not to worry, Putin has a good heart. - n/t

[proud patriot]

30. welp , he did it again didn't he ?

:eyes: pardon us world our leader just loves sticking
sticks in hornest nests . Way to go George :eyes:

[are_we_united_yet]

33. OK

I've seen enough. They suck.

[Wright Patman]

37. Root cause of all this

goes back to Putin's war against the 'oligarchs' who stole Russia blind while propping up Yeltsin.

Secondarily (could be the primary factor) is the 'great game' of transporting oil from the Caspian region and whose pipeline finds favor as the route to world markets. The Russia-Iran route is thought to be the most economical by most disinterested observers, but that is unacceptable, of course, to the Baku-Ceyhan proponents.

One of the oligarchs named Boris Berezovsky was found to be financing the Chechen insurgency in retaliation for his sudden status as persona non grata at Putin's Kremlin. Berezovsky is tied in with the Western world's financial elite. It was a gutsy move on Putin's part, but he was bound to know it would lead to repercussions such as this.

I heard some guy being interviewed by Jeff Rense a few weeks ago who claims that the decision has been made by Western bankers and politicians to 'restart' the Cold War. The 'war on terror' is not proving to be a durable paradigm.

But some sort of huge, ongoing war is thought to be necessary by the PTBs in order to keep Western economies, particularly our own, from collapsing. Without new ways of going into debt (which is how money is created in our fiat currency system), the money supply will inevitably begin to shrink and a deflationary spiral will begin.

[Zech Marquis]

41. say whaaaaaa?

now why in the hell wold the BFEE try to cause any kind of trouble with Putin and Russia? :shrug: Haven't they caused enough death and destruction already? :argh:

[Gin]

43. I read there is "OIL" in Chechnya...

g

[cthrumatrix]

45. hmmm... who is instigating terra? MIHOP from whom?

[Catfight]

47. Source? n/t

[Charles19]

48. Did you see this quote by Putin...

"In Russia, democracy is who shouts the loudest," he said. "In the U.S., it's who has the most money."

[allemand]

49. "Mid-level U.S. government officials" are "undermining war on terrorism"

"Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that mid-level officials in the U.S. government were undermining his country's war on terrorism by supporting Chechen separatists, whom he compared to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

<...>

But Putin said each time Russia complained to the Bush administration about meetings held between U.S. officials and Chechen separatist representatives, the U.S. response has been "we'll get back to you" or "we reserve the right to talk with anyone we want."

Putin blamed what he called a "Cold War mentality" on the part of some U.S. officials, but likened their demands that Russia negotiate with the Chechen separatists to the U.S. talking to al Qaeda."

More:
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/09/07/putin.us/

Are the neocons at it again??

[Tracer]

50. Even more nuclear posturing from Putin:

Ñ Putin raised the specter of the region breaking apart form Mosow during a meeting with Hill and other visiting Westerners late yesterday. "There's a Yugoslavia variant here," he said, according to notes taken by Eileen O'Connor, a participant. "It would be difficult to imagine the consequences for the rest of the world. Bear in mind Russia is a nuclear power."


(This is from this morning's print Boston Globe. I couldn't find the story online.)

[Fleshdancer]

53. For every leader who criticizes Bush in public....

makes you wonder just how many leaders are saying the exact same thing in private.

[lovuian]

55. Saudia Arabia & Bush want to control the world

But Putin has given Bush and Saudia Arabia the wake up call He is not a Democrat

and he will Bomb your ass

:bounce:

Lets see What Bush and the Saudis think of that one

[Aidoneus]

57. Pooty-Poot & the as-Saud family made their peace months ago

the latter are quietly triangulating their prostrated servant status among some of the other big oil powers. At Putin's request, they formally blessed the puppet dictator 'Kafirov' before Shamil had him eliminated.

[lovuian]

59. Most of the Chechyan terrorists were Militant Saudi terrorist

sound familiar .....Putin may have made Peace but the Saudis
and Bush are wanting control of Russia and thats why Putin is telling Bush and Saudis back off

It doesn't sound like Putin is Peaceful

He is telling Bush to tell his Buddies Back off or Else

[Aidoneus]

63. may have to clear that first bit up a bit

If I read it right, or even wrongly for that matter, I would say the first remark is a despicable lie either way, having a great deal of my own information on the matter to soberly judge from.

Most of the 2nd half is correct; Putin is not peaceful, and is in fact aggressively defending Russian state interests. And aside from the Caucasus, I rather like his approach and wish him well, despite despising him as I do for the Caucasus business. I don't see him aiming this immediately recent approach at the as-Sauds, for they are not in truth any major player in their own rights but rather a tag-along satellite and in no position to act independently.

It is in my mind first directed at the aggressively imperialist wing of the current US government (in other words, 99% of it), though in truth is probably quite a bit just aimless macho barking intended to convey the impression that they're not really impotent against the boomerang effect they have stirred up.

[goforit]

68. With tag-along satellite, Bush hires the Sauds to obliterate!!!!

It's just his style to go out and have children/women
irradicated!!!

It's the shock and Awe footprints Bush leaves behind!!!

Connect the dots!!!

[dArKeR]

64. Militants wanted revenge for Chechnya: witnesses

THE GUARDIAN , LONDON
Tuesday, Sep 07, 2004,Page 6

Details began to emerge Sunday as to what may have driven the school siege militants, as yet unidentified, to commit such a horrifying act against children. Witnesses reported that the hostage-takers had attempted to justify their brutality by claiming it was an act of revenge for the killing by Russian forces of Chechen children.

Margarita Komoyeva, a physics teacher released the day before the terrible climax in Beslan, said: "One of them told me: `Russian soldiers are killing our children in Chechnya, so we are here to kill yours.'"

The words were amplified yesterday on a Web site that is close to Shamil Basayev, the most extreme Chechen commander whom Russian officials think was the mastermind behind the Beslan atrocity.

"However many children in that school were held hostage, however many of them will die ... it is incomparably less than the 42,000 Chechen children of school age who have been killed by Russian invaders", said the statement on www.kavkazcenter.org.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/09/07/2003201968