[ANCETPYNCTEXT]

Putin Slams US for Making World More Dangerous

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-frontal attack on the United States on Saturday, saying it had made the world a more dangerous place and left successive conflicts unresolved.

Addressing an audience of senior officials and politicians including many from the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Putin said the United States had "overstepped" its borders with disastrous results.

The Russian leader, who spearheaded opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States and its allies, accused Washington of operating by "separate norms."

"The United States has overstepped its borders in all spheres -- economic, political and humanitarian and has imposed itself on other states," he told delegates at the 43rd Munich Conference on Security Policy.

"One-sided illegitimate action hasn't solved a single problem and has become a generator of many human tragedies, a source of tension," Putin said. "Local and regional wars didn't get fewer. The number of people who died didn't get less but increased significantly."
The United States, he said, had gone "from one conflict to another without achieving a fully-fledged solution to any of them."

Putin also took aim at US plans to site a missile defense system close to Russia's border in NATO countries the Czech Republic and Poland, adding that any further enlargement of the alliance would be inappropriate.

"Why is it necessary to put military infrastructure on our border? It's hardly connected to today's global threats. What is the threat? Terrorism and fighting it," Putin said.

Analysts say that Russia's relations with the United States have deteriorated significantly under Putin, who has tried to restore Russia's prestige since the economic collapse that followed the Soviet Union's 1991 collapse.

... Source and full article: Putin Slams US for Making World More Dangerous | Europe | Deutsche Welle | 10.02.2007

Putin certainly has a few points, concerning the policy of the Bush administration ... but somehow this speech almost sounded "cold war"-like. Is there a risk of a new arms race?

[Blotassefesek]

He doesnt understand WE WERE ATTACKED on 9-11!!! I suggest putin learned something about Adolph Hitler what he tried to invade russia.Putin also order the invasion of afgainstan orders from breshnev so why cant Mr Bush adress that to him? And when russia invaded afgainstan NOT ONE WORD CAME FROM THE UN!!! Suppose Chechnya attacked Moscow would putin turn the other cheek?

[Andoror]

He also doesn’t understand that standing up to bullies may result in some short term risky altercations. Leaving the job unfinished is what would be dangerous…

[YpbWF5Yo]

Putin is echoing what is being said all over the world, even in England. We can whine about "anti-americanism" all we want, but what he said was nothing but the truth.

The Bush Administration HAS made the world more dangerous AND the US HAS gone from one conflict to the next without solving any of them .. now there is talk and movement on attacking yet another country, Iran.

The "we were attacked" nonsense is beyond ridiculous. IRAQ didn't attack us and there is conclusive indisputable proof that the Bush Administration made-up the "evidence" to attack Iraq and engage in the worst blunder in American history.

The Bush Administration has isolated America, chased away friends and allies, and reduced American leadership and influence dramatically. But he didn't do it by himself. There are many democrats with blood on their hands as well, and as obvious as the disastrous results are, there are still far too many Americans spouting shit like "we were attacked", as if that gives reason to engage in any foolish demonic misadventure that we choose.

From France to China and Asia to Latin America to Iraq to Iran to moderate Arab states to Afghanistan to England. they are ALL saying the same thing. America has made the world much more dangerous.

[VowJoyday]

^ Well said.

[Gymnfacymoota]

He also doesn’t understand that standing up to bullies may result in some short term risky altercations. Leaving the job unfinished is what would be dangerous…

Bullies? You mean the US?

[YpbWF5Yo]

Our Idiot-In-Chief has even managed to make Putin look good.

Damn

[Biassasecumma]

I noticed he didn't mention the fact that Russia sells $6,000,000,000 a year in arms sales to some of the most questionable nations on earth.

[rsdefwgxvcfdts]

Putineaux is following Villepin's lead.

Certainly the loss of the under-the-table deals with Iraq did nothing to help Russia's economic recovery.

[Biassasecumma]

North Korea, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Vietnam, Cuba and many others rogue countries are armed almost entirely with Russian weapons.

Since 2000 - Russia has increased arms sales over 200%.

Shortly after America and our allies invaded Iraq in the first Gulf war..Russia sold saddam $150,000,000 in anti-aircraft weaponry to help them shoot down American jets within weeks of President Bush's announcement that we were going to war.

Right now in Arms trade with Libya, Libya is allowing oil and gas pipelines built under Russian control - in turn Russia is replacing and modernizing their entire air force and selling them anti-aircraft technology to boot.

Yeah...those peace loving Russians

[YpbWF5Yo]

I noticed he didn't mention the fact that Russia sells $6,000,000,000 a year in arms sales to some of the most questionable nations on earth.

Nor did he mention that the US is the worlds leading arms dealer .. BY FAR

Arms Sales By Supplier Nations

Arms sales (agreements) ranked by Supplier, 1998-2005 (in constant 2005 million US Dollars and percentage of world sales

United States -- 97,144 -- 36%
Russia -- 41,600 -- 16%
France -- 30,000 -- 11%
Germany -- 17,000 -- 6%
United Kingdom -- 14,900 -- 6%
China -- 9,100 -- 3%
Italy -- 5,600 -- 2%
Other European -- 33,800 -- 13%
The Arms Trade is Big Business - Global Issues

“We can’t have it both ways. We can’t be both the world’s leading champion of peace and the world’s leading supplier of arms.” Former US President Jimmy Carter, presidential campaign, 1976

"War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious." General Smedley Butler/ War is a Racket

[24MurinivaMak]

We need a new President ASAP.

[SallyIsNice5]

January of 2008, you'll have your wish.

Matt

[24MurinivaMak]

I'm an impatient girl. It's taking forever to get here. And so much more will go horribly wrong with this one while we wait.

[SallyIsNice5]

Well, as the saying goes, the world will have to wait.

Matt

[Gintovtosik]

The Bush Administration HAS made the world more dangerous AND the US HAS gone from one conflict to the next without solving any of them .. now there is talk and movement on attacking yet another country, Iran.

Islamic Fundamentalism has made the world more dangerous.

[24MurinivaMak]

Well, as the saying goes, the world will have to wait.

Matt

Actually it goes: The World Can't Wait.

The World Can't Wait! Drive Out The Bush Regime - HOME

[24MurinivaMak]

Islamic Fundamentalism has made the world more dangerous.

That came first yes. And the world was dangerous. Then Bush came along and made it even more dangerous.

[YpbWF5Yo]

North Korea, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, Vietnam, Cuba and many others rogue countries are armed almost entirely with Russian weapons.

Since 2000 - Russia has increased arms sales over 200%.

Shortly after America and our allies invaded Iraq in the first Gulf war..Russia sold saddam $150,000,000 in anti-aircraft weaponry to help them shoot down American jets within weeks of President Bush's announcement that we were going to war.

Right now in Arms trade with Libya, Libya is allowing oil and gas pipelines built under Russian control - in turn Russia is replacing and modernizing their entire air force and selling them anti-aircraft technology to boot.

Yeah...those peace loving Russians

ARMS TRADE RESOURCE CENTER

U.S. WEAPONS AT WAR 2005:
PROMOTING FREEDOM OR FUELING CONFLICT?
U.S. Military Aid and Arms Transfers Since September 11

-A report released today by the New York-based World Policy Institute finds that a majority of U.S. arms sales to the developing world go to regimes defined as undemocratic by our own State Department. Furthermore, U.S.-supplied arms are involved in a majority of the world's active conflicts.

"Billions of U.S. arms sales to Afghanistan in the 1980s ended up empowering Islamic fundamentalist fighters across the globe," notes report co-author William D. Hartung. "Our current policy of arming unstable regimes could have similarly disastrous consequences, with U.S.-supplied weapons falling into the hands of terrorists, insurgents, or hostile governments."

-- In 2003, the last year for which full information is available, the United States transferred weaponry to 18 of the 25 countries involved in active conflicts. From Angola, Chad and Ethiopia, to Colombia, Pakistan, Israel and the Philippines, transfers through the two largest U.S. arms sales programs (Foreign Military Sales and Commercial Sales) to these conflict nations totaled nearly $1 billion in 2003.


-- In 2003, more than half of the top 25 recipients of U.S. arms transfers in the developing world (13 of 25) were defined as undemocratic by the U.S. State Department's Human Rights Report: in the sense that "citizens do not have the right to change their own government." These 13 nations received over $2.7 billion in U.S. arms transfers in 2003, with the top recipients including Saudi Arabia ($1.1 billion), Egypt ($1.0 billion), Kuwait ($153 million), the United Arab Emirates ($110 million) and Uzbekistan ($33 million).

-- When countries designated by the State Department's Human Rights Report to have poor human rights records or serious patterns of abuse are factored in, 20 of the top 25 U.S. arms clients in the developing world in 2003 -- a full 80% -- were either undemocratic regimes or governments with records of major human rights abuses. Report: U.S. WEAPONS AT WAR 2005

[SallyIsNice5]

Actually it goes: The World Can't Wait.

The World Can't Wait! Drive Out The Bush Regime - HOME

Ah, but I think we both know the world will have to wait.

Matt