Bush and Putin

[Grins]

I almost went into convulsions when I first heard this one from ‘Dubya. I wrote it down and kept it. Our “Faith-based” President made this comment after his first meeting with Vladimir Putin:

May 23, 2002:

"I said I looked into his eyes and was able to glimpse into his soul,” Mr. Bush reminded European reporters on the eve of his first trip to Germany. "See, and I've been proven right. I do trust him." (Washington Times, May 23, 2002)

Awwww, maybe they will do some bible reading together. Or, maybe Bush should have his eyes checked. 10 Months later….

“President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin traded jabs yesterday …. about reports of Russian sales of night-vision goggles, antitank missiles and Global Positioning System-jamming devices to Iraq. …U.S. officials said they are furious that the Russian government has not stemmed the sales, despite repeated requests over the past year (Year? You mean before Bush made the May 23 statement above?) to take action.
(Washington Post, March 25, 2003)

This week:

“MOSCOW, Sept. 25 -- After Russia's most reputable polling agency reported last month that support for President Vladimir Putin's war in Chechnya had fallen to 28 percent (less than Bush's numbers on Iraq!), the messengers were targeted by a state-ordered purge. Soon the center's founder and research team were out, replaced by a 29-year-old who once campaigned for Putin's political party (Was his name Roger Ailes, Jr.?) ….During the summer the Russian Press Ministry silenced another unfriendly voice, shutting down TVS, a struggling television channel that had become the home for independent journalists forced out of NTV when a state-controlled company took it over in 2001. And a new law signed by Putin barred the media from providing information deemed to be election advocacy, including political analysis, results forecasting or even mentioning whether a candidate failed to fulfill a campaign promise.” (Has to be Ailes.)
(Washington Post Sept. 26, 2003)

Maybe Born-again-Bush should have looked deeper into that soul? Another from that day:

“…in a meeting with American journalists last weekend, he questioned whether U.S. forces were violating human rights on the streets of Baghdad. In fact the comparison is obscene. In Chechnya Russian troops have wiped out a democratically elected government, killed tens of thousands of civilians, forced others out of refugee camps and back into the war zone, reduced the capital and every major town to rubble, indiscriminately rounded up the entire male populations of dozens of villages for torture or summary execution and so shattered the country's civil society that previously marginal Islamic extremists now are a major force.” (Washington Post Sept. 26, 2003)

And now, today:

“Despite differences over the Iraq war, Bush and Putin stressed their strong relationship. "I'm honored to have him here and I appreciate the great dialogue we had last night and today," Bush said. …What's important is we understand that its in our national interests to insure that Iran doesn't develop a nuclear weapon."

Yeah. We’re just ‘buds!

“The White House claims Russian technology is helping Tehran develop nuclear weapons and contribute to the proliferation of unconventional weapons. Russia and Iran insist the aid is going only for electricity production, and Putin has shown no willingness to give up the business. Putin sees the Chechnya war as part of his own battle against terrorism. U.S. opposition to Moscow's military campaign against separatists eased after Putin offered support for the U.S.-led fight against terrorism. A State Department official said that the topic was among the most troubling issues in advance of the Camp David talks. The comments infuriated the Russians. Putin has accused the United States of holding secret talks with rebel representative Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev, former president of Chechnya, who lives in Qatar."
(Both from the Washington Post, 27 Sept. 2003)

[glarius]

1. Watching their news conf. today...I was struck by how displeased Bush

appeared...His face was a cloud of misery....and then when he started giving orders to the Russian media about how they should ask questions....Not a good performance....Methinks his friends are thinning out fast!

[Lexiemae]

2. Bush 1?

Did Bush Sr's recent trip to Russia put pressure/friendly arm twisting on Putin to visit idiot son at Camp David?

I can't stand his disrespect for the media (not the U.S. ones who deserve no respect).