Putin seems clueless about religious fanatics.
As is at least half of America and most of the rest of the world.
Putin got checkmated by Islamists. :)
Putin was head of the old KGB. He’s probably atheist or at least agnostic. This trip to Iran may have been “educational” in that he may now realize that those Iranian mullahs must NOT get nuclear weapons at all costs!............
Putin has really put himself in a box here. The Russians have much more to fear from Iran than the USA in the short term. With Islamofascists in their southern regions such as Chechnya, the Ruskies can ill afford to piss off the mullahs. It has always been a mystery to me why the Russians would provide any help for Iran’s nuclear program. The hard currency they gain is more than offset by the potential that a nuke from Iran could be smuggled into Moscow and exploded. I think the runup in oil prics has allowed the Russians to distance themselves from the Iranians. Now that Putin has seen firsthand that the mullahs and President A-nut are not rational, he would be wise to not oppose more sanctions. However, the Iranians appear drunk on their oil wealth and poking the US in the eye, and they will not take kindly to Putin continuing to delay completion of Buesher nuclear plant. Of course the Chinese will not support any meaningful sanctions due to their lust for oil, so even if the Russians do not stand in the way of more sanctions, the Chinese will. Final thought is if Iran is attacked, oil goes to 150-200 a barrel and the Russians make out big time. They seem to be in the catbird’s seat, they win either way the Iran situation goes. If negotiation works, they get to build nuclear plants, sell arms to Iran, etc. If negotiation fails, oil spikes and Russia wins also.
I Learned a new word today. Eschatological, Webster says:a branch of theology concerned with the final events in the history of the world or of humankind.
I think it's one thing to hear about them, quite another to actually try to deal with them.
I can see the scene in my mind's eye ... maybe 6 hours in. "Well, Vladimir, what do you think?" "Sergei, these guys are nuts. They're f***ing loons. Holy crapski!"
Only an idiot or a servant of evil could witness the Islamofascist massacre at Beslan and then aid an Islamic dictatorship in developing nuclear weapons.