...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...has hinted that the Syrian
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneckal-Assad
Light of the Alawites...
could be granted asylum in Russia.
In an interview with a German magazine, Putin said it was premature to discuss the issue to provide shelter for President Assad.
However,
the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits...
he said "We granted asylum to Mr. Snowden, which was far more difficult than to do the same for Mr. Assad."
Snowden was the former NSA contractor who fled to Moscow after releasing reams of classified documents about U.S. surveillance programs.
In other parts of the interview, Putin said Russia supports Syrian President Bashir al-Assad's forces and will back anti-Assad rebels as long as they are fighting Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
"We support both Assad's army and the armed opposition," Putin said, adding that "We are coordinating our joint operations with them and support their offensives by
The remarks by Putin comes as Russia has repeatedly been criticized over its
A surprise intervention by Putin in Syria was widely seen as an effort to prop up the current regime led by President Bashir al-Assad.
The critics also believe that the intervention was also aimed at giving Russia a seat at the table in any negotiations about the future of the country.
However,
the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits...
Putin rejected the criticisms and called for a new constitution i Syria followed by early elections.
"I think that President al-Assad has made many mistakes in the course of the Syrian conflict," Putin said. "It is the Syrian people themselves who must decide who and how should run their country."