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| Caucasus |
| Putin lays it out... |
| 2002-11-10 |
| While meeting the public and religious figures of Chechnya in the Kremlin on Sunday Russian President Vladimir Putin said that terrorists and their accomplices must stand aside from the process of political settlement in Chechnya. That means they're "irrelevant"... Those who choose [rebel leader Aslan] Maskhadovâs side, choose war, Putin said. He said that he did not consider it right to keep silent on Maskhadov. âUnder conditions of de-facto recognition of Chechnyaâs independence by Russia in 1996 this man obtained the power in the republic. How did he use this power, what did he create, what did he do to Chechnya?â the President asked. He's gonna tell us what the guy did. Have those guys at the Washington Post listen up on this â it's important... He went on to answer himself â Maskhadov has led the republic to economic collapse and famine, complete destruction of the spiritual and social sphere, genocide of representatives of other nations in Chechnya and numerous casualties among the Chechen people. It was him [Maskhadov] who led Russia and Chechnya to war, Putin said. Ummm... Yep. That's a pretty accurate assessment. Succinct, but accurate... At one time Maskhadov called upon us to destroy the odious terrorists and at the other time he suddenly appointed them his deputies, at one time he organized the bandit raids and at the other time he denounced those who worked upon his orders, the Russian President said. Couldn't make up his mind, could he? Putin reminded the Chechens that in September last year Maskhadov received a direct suggestion to resume the process of negotiations. He has sent his representative to Moscow only for show, but then he again evaded any further contacts. Instead of negotiations, Maskhadov has chosen the path of terror, standing behind the scumbags who took hundreds of people hostage in Moscow on October 23, Putin said. Kind of hard to miss what Putin's opinion is, isn't it? I like Bush, but I do wish he's use the word "scumbags" more when discussing our enemies. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |