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Reply With QuoteThumbs up for Putin, I knew one day or the other he will stand up to the US.
Unlike that pushover Yeltsin.
By Louis Charbonneau
MUNICH, Germany (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin, in one of his harshest attacks on the United States in seven years in power, accused Washington on Saturday of attempting to force its will on the world.
The White House said it was "surprised and disappointed" by Putin's accusations but added Washington expected to continue to work with Moscow in areas such as counterterrorism and reducing the spread and threat of weapons of mass destruction.
In a speech in Germany, which one U.S. senator said smacked of Cold War rhetoric, Putin accused the United States of making the world a more dangerous place by pursuing policies aimed at making it "one single master".
Attacking the concept of a "unipolar" world in which the United States was the sole superpower, he said: "What is a unipolar world? No matter how we beautify this term it means one single centre of power, one single centre of force and one single master."
"It has nothing in common with democracy because that is the opinion of the majority taking into account the minority opinion," he told the gathering of top security and defence officials.
"People are always teaching us democracy but the people who teach us democracy don't want to learn it themselves," he said.
Gordon Johndroe, press secretary for the White House National Security Council, rejected Putin's comments.
"We are surprised and disappointed with President Putin's comments. His accusations are wrong," said Johndroe.
"We expect to continue cooperation with Russia in areas important to the international community such as counterterrorism and reducing the spread and threat of weapons of mass destruction," he added.
The Kremlin has for several weeks been dropping hints that Putin, who steps down next year after two terms in power, was preparing a major foreign policy speech that would point the way for his successor.
Its delivery at the prestigious annual Munich meeting on security was clearly aimed at attracting maximum attention.
"The message I got from his speech was that Putin wants Russia to have the same position in the world as the former Soviet Union," a senior European official told Reuters.
INCREASING TENSIONS
Putin spoke against a background of increasing Russian agitation over U.S. policy on Iraq, and on the Iran and North Korea nuclear issues, as well as growing self-confidence as an emerging energy superpower.
U.S. plans to deploy parts of an anti-missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic have become a fresh irritant in U.S.-Russian relations. Washington says the system is needed for defence against rockets launched by Iran and North Korea -- an argument rejected by Moscow.
Putin said the United States had repeatedly overstepped its national borders in questions of international security, a policy that he said had made the world less, not more, safe.
"Unilateral actions have not resolved conflicts but have made them worse," Putin said, adding that force should only be used when backed by the United Nations Security Council.
"This is very dangerous. Nobody feels secure any more because nobody can hide behind international law," he said.
Putin also said the increased use of force was "causing an arms race with the desire of countries to get nuclear weapons". He did not name the countries.
Putin mentioned no specific conflicts. But he has been very critical of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, where U.S. soldiers are still struggling to crush an insurgency.
New U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates, the top U.S. official at the conference, said Putin's comments were "interesting, very forthright".
U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman said the speech was provocative and marked by "rhetoric that sounded more like the Cold War".
NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said he was disappointed by Putin's statement that alliance enlargement was "a serious factor provoking reduced mutual trust".
"I see a disconnection between NATO's partnership with Russia as it has developed and Putin's speech," he said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, however, denied the Russian president was trying to provoke Washington. "This is not about confrontation. It's an invitation to think,"he told reporters.
http://in.today.reuters.com/news/new...a-287134-4.xml
Thumbs up for Putin, I knew one day or the other he will stand up to the US.
Unlike that pushover Yeltsin.
Yelstin, had just no choice in his time .... but he had a intresting quote that i think he uttered during the Serbian war
President Clinton, for a second .. just for a second, forget that Russia has a full arsenal of nuclear weapons ....
If we contrast the rapid progress of this mischievous discovery of gunpowder with the slow and laborious advances of reason, science, and the arts of peace, a philosopher, according to his temper, will laugh or weep at the folly of mankind. - Edward Gibbon
Putin's right!
Woooorshiiiiiip Meeeeeeeee......
What a freakin' disappointment from a so-called world leader.
I guess it's Chicken Feet and Nutri-Sweet for Russians too....poor bastards.
"We will go through our federal budget – page by page, line by line – eliminating those programs we don’t need, and insisting that those we do operate in a sensible cost-effective way." -President Barack Obama 11/25/2008
I mean, it's only coming from a country where I can go online to a gazillion different websites and by me a Russian bride. Why? Because it indicates to me that the people there aren't happy with their way of life and of course, they are many other indicating factors then this.
Yes I remember that, my uncle congratulated that. But even when he said that he was half pissed or probably suffering from a hangover.Originally Posted by xerxes
Way to derail a topic with your old American saying "well you're ****ing poor and we're rich ***** so up yours!"
That is not the point of Putin's speech, his point is what everyone in the world except for right wing Americans think.
I can tell you for sure that ex-KGB colonel Putin is 1000000 gazillion times smarter and more adept at world politics than Daddy's Boy Blow sniffing Dubya Bush.What a freakin' disappointment from a so-called world leader.
I mean I cannot understand how such an embarassment of a personality, that cannot even grasp the simplicity of English language can represent the most powerful country in the world.
Before you **** on Putin, just remember that he is a fox, and Bush is a... a shrew.
Checyna? His fellow Special Agents? May be you overestimate Mr. Putin too much... and it is fashionable to bashed United States right now....
Well, you missed the context, and I'm not going to explain it to you. You can play catch-up on your own.
Epithets aside, I agree with you 100%. Putin has shown way more skill and savvy at manipulation than Bush ever will.
"We will go through our federal budget – page by page, line by line – eliminating those programs we don’t need, and insisting that those we do operate in a sensible cost-effective way." -President Barack Obama 11/25/2008
I don't overestimate him, he is still a bastard, but he is 'our' bastard, at least I know that in the long term he has the well being of Russia in the back of his mind. Unlike the sellout Yeltsin.Checyna? His fellow Special Agents? May be you overestimate Mr. Putin too much... and it is fashionable to bashed United States right now....
I just dont underestimate him. Chechnya is also settling down now, and at least the situation there is nowhere near as bad as it is in Iraq and Afghanistan.
If America is the problem and Putin is the solution, I'll just keep the problem thanks all the same.
Yes quite right, America should take a leaf out of Putins Chechnya book and just kill every man woman and child in Iraq, and turn the country into a moonscape.
So from your thorough study of North Caucasian history please tell me about the mass murders of Chechen civilians and women and children. The casualities in the Iraq war amongst Iraqis killed by either insurgents or Americans have probabl exceeded the population of ethnic Chechens.
Death by a JDAM is no different than death by a 7.62.
And "collateral" casualties that the US Generals brag about are also a war crime.
Putin is not the solution my kiwi friend, Putin is pointing out the problem out loud because he has balls, unlike ass kissers Blair, Howard and H. Clarke. Who chose to jump on the bandwagon and now face being voted out.
SourceTuesday, August 16, 2005. Issue 3231. Page 3.
Death Toll Put at 160,000 in Chechnya
By Nabi Abdullaev
Staff Writer
About 160,000 people have died in Chechnya in the two armed conflicts over the past decade, Chechen State Council chairman Taus Dzhabrailov said Monday, Interfax reported.
Dzhabrailov said the figure included civilians and servicemen and that ethnic Chechens made up 30,000 to 40,000 of the deaths.
Remember this is official Russian figures, HRW estmates 3 times as many out of a population of 1.2 million.
SourceChechnya: Research Shows Widespread and Systematic Use of Torture
UN Committee against Torture Must Get Commitments From Russia to Stop Torture
(Geneva, November 13, 2006) – Torture in both official and secret detention facilities is widespread and systematic in Chechnya, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper issued today, just as the UN Committee against Torture concluded its review of Russia.
and full report
SourceChechnya: European Court Finds Russia Guilty
In the first international ruling addressing abuses by the Russian government during the conflict in Chechnya, the European Court of Human Rights found Russia guilty of serious human rights violations in Chechnya. The Court ruled in three cases on behalf of Chechens whose family members had been killed in aerial bombings and tortured by Russian forces. It found that Russia had used disproportionate force in its military operations, indiscriminately targeted civilians, and failed to adequately investigate civilian deaths. Human Rights Watch provided significant assistance to the prosecution in the preparation of these cases. Our publications, including numerous interviews with eyewitnesses, were used during the trials. We continue to demand an end to Russia's impunity, most recently by pressing the international community to hold Russia accountable for the disappearances of thousands of Chechen civilians.
I could go on all day. Your pathetic belief that an animal like Putin is the panacea for the 'ills' of America is frankly absurd.
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