NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) accused the United States on Friday of pursuing a dictatorial foreign policy and said mounting violence could derail progress toward bringing peace and democracy to Iraq. Posted on 12/03/2004 11:25:29 AM PST by M. Espinola
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) accused the United States on Friday of pursuing a dictatorial foreign policy and said mounting violence could derail progress toward bringing peace and democracy to Iraq.
Putin also criticized the West for setting double-standards on terrorism, pursuing Islamic fundamentalists in Afghanistan and Iraq while giving refuge to "terrorists" demanding Chechnya's independence from Russia.
The Kremlin leader's tough remarks came on a visit to former Cold War ally India, where he and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh issued a joint call for greater cooperation in stabilizing and rebuilding Iraq.
Unilateralism increased risks that weapons of mass destruction might fall into the hands of terrorists, and would stoke regional conflicts, Putin said in a hard-hitting speech to an invited audience.
"Even if dictatorship is packaged in beautiful pseudo-democratic phraseology, it will not be able to solve systemic problems," Putin said. "It may even make them worse."
Putin did not name the United States, but clearly had the administration of President Bush in mind when he said policies "based on the barrack-room principles of a unipolar world appear to be extremely dangerous."
Russia was a vocal opponent of the U.S.-led war to oust Saddam Hussein but has since joined efforts to rebuild Iraq's war-hit infrastructure. Moscow's assent was key to a recent Paris Club deal to write off most of Iraq's foreign debts.
MOUNTING VIOLENCE
Putin said he was worried by mounting violence and loss of life linked to operations by U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq, and said these may disrupt plans to hold elections now scheduled for Jan. 30, 2005.
Again the Russian leader was not specific, but he appeared to be referring to the U.S. operation to crush die-hard insurgents in the Iraqi city of Falluja.
"This may put a question mark over holding of fair and democratic elections in Iraq early next year," he said.
Putin's speech echoed comments he made earlier to an Indian newspaper in which he said the war had turned Iraq into a breeding ground for terrorists.
"As had been the case with Afghanistan, Iraq turned into a major hotbed of a terrorist threat, a firing ground and incubator for militants," he told the Hindu newspaper.
He rounded on Britain for giving asylum to Akhmed Zakayev and the United States for giving refuge to Ilyas Akhmadov, spokesmen for Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov.
"Providing safe haven and support to terrorists, their accomplices and sponsors actually serves as a justification and, indeed, an encouragement of their crimes," Putin said.
Both men deny being terrorists. Maskhadov, regarded in the West as a moderate, led Chechnya to brief de facto independence during the 1990s before Putin ordered Russian troops to retake the turbulent North Caucasus province.
Putin, who backed India's bid for a United Nations Security Council seat, said he had found in India a strong ally against terrorism.
"Terrorists benefit from the conflict of civilizations and religions," he told the hand-picked New Delhi audience. "Let it be known that our multi-confessional and multi-ethnic states will not be broken up."
Mr. KGB has just shown his true threatening colours.
LOL! I love your "enhancement" of this article. ;-)
The pics make the article so much better!
razzPutin is getting tiresome. Russia is a 3rd world countries with nukes and an insecure pseudodictator. They'll be trouble for years to come.
BTW I sent money to the kids and churches in Beslan despite Putin.
File this in the "Takes one to know one" pile...
"""""""Putin's speech echoed comments he made earlier to an Indian newspaper in which he said the war had turned Iraq into a breeding ground for terrorists."""""""
This is great!! We can fight them there, and mop up the remnants of the groups that want to fight us..
This is genius. Instead of fighting them in Israel or the US, or Spain and Italy, we can take care of them in Iraq.
Is there anything wrong with that?
A dangerous combo.
Well, he's not completely wrong. As long as we criticize Israel for protecting themselves against Palestinian terrorists and Russia for going after the Chechnyan terrorists, we do sound hypocritical.
There are three primary targets of terrorists these days, Israel, the U.S. overseas, and Chechnya. We should lead the world by conducting a Victims of Terrorism summit, with Bush, Putin, and Sharon in attendance. And come out with a unified position and prove to the world knows that terrorists have no place to hide. Then see what happens. There is real common ground to establish a world peace.
Those pics speak volumes about "pseudo-democratic" Putin who cannot hide his tyrannical style from people in the true democracies.
Even if Russia's campaign against the Chechens can be remotely compared to our War on Terror, does that still make us "dictatorial"? Plenty of countries have criticized our conduct in ways that suggest that they don't hold themselves to the same standard, but we haven't called them dictatorial for that reason. It looks much more like Putin's engaging in the "dictatorial" habit of using hyperbole to shield himself from criticism of any kind.
Don't forget Ukraine's "election".
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