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Putin the Pragmatist
Say what you will about Vladimir but I think Bush was dead-on when he said that this was a guy he could work with.Russian President Vladimir Putin, siding with President Bush two weeks before the U.S. election, said Monday that armed attacks in Iraq were staged by "international terrorism" out to block his re-election. "The attacks of international terrorism in Iraq are directed not only at international coalition forces but at President Bush personally," said Putin, speaking in the Tajik capital. "International terrorism has given itself the goal of causing maximum damage to Bush in the election battle, the goal of blocking the re-election of Bush for a second presidential term," he told a news conference. Putin's comments, ahead of the Nov. 2 election in which Democratic challenger John Kerry and Bush are fighting a close race, seemed a reward to the U.S. President for his personal friendship and valuable support. The strong support he enjoys from Bush since quickly backing the U.S. war on terrorism following the Sept. 11 hijacked plane attacks in the United States has helped him withstand other criticism from the United States and the West over his democratic record at home. Despite making clear he wanted to see Bush returned to the White House, the pragmatic Putin carefully balanced his comments by adding: "We will, of course, respect any choice by the American people." Last June, Putin made clear for the first time he would like to see Bush back in the White House, accusing the Democrats of hypocrisy for attacking the U.S. leader on Iraq, saying the Clinton administration had been responsible for the 1999 air attacks on Yugoslavia. Posted by: AzCat 2004-10-18 |
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