[Bobby777]

as a side note, still hard to believe that UPI was acquired by the Rev. Moon a couple years ago ... for informational and discussion purposes only ...

[Pearls Before Swine]

as a side note, still hard to believe that UPI was acquired by the Rev. Moon a couple years ago ...

Say what?

[Xphantasos]

"to remove Yasser Arafat from the Palestinian leadership (would be a mistake) because "it would lead to a radicalization of Palestinian society."

Huh?? You mean Palestinian society is NOT yet "radicalized"???

[Bonaparte]

"Palestinian society" sends its own kids out to explode in people's faces, and Putin is worried that they will be radicalized? How much more radical can they become?

[goldstategop]

Russian hypocrisy is so thick you can cut through it. And this is the same President Putin who promised to rub Chechen terrorists in their outhouse and who swore never to negotiate with Chechen separatists. And here he's warning how "dangerous and a mistake" it would be to remove Yasser Arafat's regime from power. If President Putin's country were subjected to years of incessant terror he might have a different appreciation for Israel's actions in the territories which have been by the way, more restrained and methodical than the ones the Russian Army undertook in Chechenya. When it comes to the necessity of eliminating a terrorist threat, one would think Russia would know the need for a military solution better than any one. It is too much to ask President Putin to appreciate Israel's response is the result of a war being forced upon her by the PLO? President Putin would have done better to join President Bush in impressing upon the Palestinians the importance of acquiring new leadership and eschewing terrorism as an instrument of political change than in defending an already indefensible status quo ante. And moreover Russia's stance as announced by President Putin at his press conference will not contribute one iota to furthering the search for true peace in the Middle East.