4 ms·

Any reasons to believe otherwise? The only thing I hold against him is his failure, as promised, to hang Georgian president by his balls. Eating necktie is a w

by rfctr 13y ago

Any reasons to believe otherwise? The only thing I hold against him is his failure, as promised, to hang Georgian president by his balls. Eating necktie is a weak substitute.

jbooth 13y ago
Being president of a large country pretty much guarantees you've had to lie and cheat at least a little bit to get there. For one random example (not being a huge student of 21st century Russia), he promised Bush that he wasn't arming Saddam's troops. Turned out they were outfitted with a lot of Russian anti-tank and night vision gear when we got there.
- rfctr 13y ago
  Proof, please? Soviet-designed doesn't mean Russian. Soviet designs are in manufacturing all over the world, including countries much closer to Iraq.
  - jbooth 13y ago
    http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2004/01/10/evidence_cited_of_russian_arms_in_iraq/ http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2004/01/10/evidenc... It's a he said, she said, of course.
- andreypopp 13y ago
  > For one random example (not being a huge student of 21st century Russia), he promised Bush that he wasn't arming Saddam's troops. Turned out they were outfitted with a lot of Russian anti-tank and night vision gear when we got there. That doesn't say anything about Russia arming Saddam's troops. I'm sure there are a lot of cases U.S. arming their "allies" and then these weapons in some way became available to terrorists... I simply don't think it is possible to know and predict how and by whom weapons will be used.
- ivan_gammel 13y ago
  That could be done via 3rd party like Ukraine without direct involvement or even awareness of Russian government.
andreypopp 13y ago
Reason? He's politician.
greenburger 13y ago
He's well known to fake publicity stunts, such as: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2045848/Vladimir-Putins-Black-Sea-scuba-diving-treasure-stunt.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2045848/Vladimir-Put... Remember, he comes from the KGB, eventually rising to be the FSB director (the KGB successor).

by rfctr 13y ago

Any reasons to believe otherwise? The only thing I hold against him is his failure, as promised, to hang Georgian president by his balls. Eating necktie is a weak substitute.

jbooth 13y ago

Being president of a large country pretty much guarantees you've had to lie and cheat at least a little bit to get there. For one random example (not being a huge student of 21st century Russia), he promised Bush that he wasn't arming Saddam's troops. Turned out they were outfitted with a lot of Russian anti-tank and night vision gear when we got there.

rfctr 13y ago
Proof, please? Soviet-designed doesn't mean Russian. Soviet designs are in manufacturing all over the world, including countries much closer to Iraq.
- jbooth 13y ago
  http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2004/01/10/evidence_cited_of_russian_arms_in_iraq/ http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2004/01/10/evidenc... It's a he said, she said, of course.
andreypopp 13y ago
> For one random example (not being a huge student of 21st century Russia), he promised Bush that he wasn't arming Saddam's troops. Turned out they were outfitted with a lot of Russian anti-tank and night vision gear when we got there. That doesn't say anything about Russia arming Saddam's troops. I'm sure there are a lot of cases U.S. arming their "allies" and then these weapons in some way became available to terrorists... I simply don't think it is possible to know and predict how and by whom weapons will be used.
ivan_gammel 13y ago
That could be done via 3rd party like Ukraine without direct involvement or even awareness of Russian government.

andreypopp 13y ago

Reason? He's politician.

greenburger 13y ago

He's well known to fake publicity stunts, such as: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2045848/Vladimir-Putins-Black-Sea-scuba-diving-treasure-stunt.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2045848/Vladimir-Put... Remember, he comes from the KGB, eventually rising to be the FSB director (the KGB successor).