Putin just means to improve his country. He's just playing with the toys god gave him such as we all do. Russia is not the enemy here.

Josh, Pennsylvania, USA

Putin, Bush, Ahmadinijad, and the heads of nearly every government, are in the same club. That is, everyone of them is willing to put their people at risk, so 'they' can play economic
and geopolitical power games with each other. This is one main reason, that government, every one, everywhere, are the enemies of humanity. Who else runs around with tanks , fighter jets, bombers, and battleships, killing as many people as possible.
Russians, who are very familiar with chess, may see the similarities of government moves to a chess game. Putin, Bush and the rest, are playing 'reality chess' , where knights and rooks really get killed, and pawns are worth a dime a dozen. We are the pawns. But there is such a thing as a 'pawn game', in which the pawns themselves pull off a checkmate or at least a stalemate. We better learn how to play a 'pawn game', and fast...

Duh_Swami, Nevada City , Calif, USA

Europe led by Germany will destroy America, and enter the middle east. Russia will feel threatened and will destroy Germany and Europe fearing that they are next. In the meantime, we continue to support all of these enemies with our dollars, or what's left of them. Sure looks like this is what is building up to be.

Gary Munster, Hendersonville, NC USA

The beat goes on....and on, and on, and on....

SGA, Chicago, IL

Mark is right everyone!!

The World will end with large bright flashes just like it began! Look all around you and I dare you challenge this people. Look long and hard at everything bad happening right now and everyday. Looks like it's building to a horriffic finale.

Kevin
101st Airbourne

Kevin, Sanford, USA of Maine

What do we expect?

For years the IMF screwed Russia on behalf of the West. Now they are screwing us back.
Also, for the West's policies in Nuclear weapons, see treatment of Israel vis a vis Iran.
As long as we are served and our interests are served, everyone else is evil and a threat to the world.
Let the new games begin.......

brendan, Dublin, Ireland

To Richard in Plymouth.

William in Brandon didn't say NATO stood for North American Treaty Organization. He said he wanted the USA to get out of both NATO and the North American Union.

While William in Brandon may be ignorant, nothing in his post leads me to that conclusion. With respect to your post however, Richard, any doubt has been erased.

DIDC, Washington DC, USA

Well...I'm a (was a) good ole red, white 'n' blue Uh-mer-cun here.....and I'm 100% behind Putin, and totally agree with you Jerry the Canadian. It's a sad Thanksgiving Day this year....chickens coming home to roost, so to speak...same old "smallpox infected blanket syndrome." This time we will suffer the fate we bestowed upon the "Indians."

Tweiza, Kansas City, MO

To Chris from Tampa, Florida,

This is a great example of how democracy has died. Allowing elected leaders to do what they want and not be punished if it goes against moral, constitutional, and international law is allowing them to be autocratic. In a democracy, when the leaders go against what the majority of people think is right, the people not only have a right to rebel, but should rebel.
Ron Paul said "the true patriot is motivated by a responsibility...to resist government abuse of power." Did you forget how your country was founded? The true patriot "rejects the notion that patriotism means obedience to the state."

Saying "my leaders did it, not me" is a pathetic excuse for allowing atrocities to occur and not even blink an eye.

"Loyalty to the state and to autocratic leaders is substituted for true patriotism."

To say that in order to be patriotic, you have to simply accept what your leaders are doing or not have any vested interest in their actions is unpatriotic.

Matt, Calgary, Alberta

For Jason, Boston. Above a nose. Probably Americans will understand, that Russia not the enemy. Russian in the beginning 90 trusted in friendship from the USA and the Western Europe, but they have severely deceived us. What strange that Russia now does not belief in words and demands actions?

Oleg, Moscow, Russia

I live just north of Montana and i think that us Canadians should think of the U.S as agressive neighbours whom will stop at nothing to achieve global domination. They use the media as a tool to persuade their own people that 911 was a terroist attack, the same thing Hitler did in the Riechstad fires. Canada will be the buffer shield for the U.S if the missles fly for sure. If i was a russian, i would have my finger on the button for sure! America is not a Canadian alliance. We are a natural resourse teat that will be drained slowly by its foriegn investment and war mongering practices, they left us holding the bag in afganistan while they reap the rich reward of starting a war in oil dripping Iraq. If there is a world war three..ill be pointing my gun south and dying for my country riding the world of tryanny and corruption started by Bush administration and Iluminati mason bastards!!!

jerry, Regina , Canada

Viktor
I agree with you one-hundred per cent. Perhaps fifteen per cent of Americans actually read anything of merit. The rest immerse themselves in gossip columns and sports magazines. I understand Russia's situation and Putin's solution to this problem. If there is going to be a nuclear war it will be the West and not Russia.
My father used to say, "There is no one smarter than a dumb American." I wish the Russian people peace and prosperity.
Stuck In Lodi Again

John Driessler, Reno, United States/Nevada

It's time for Putin to deploy Russia's nuclear arsenal somewhere in Venezuela or Cuba to keep things even. And to keep the rogue states in the region at bay.

Ed, Brisbane, Australia

Guys from the West,
get into Russian pants. What songs will you sing seing the NATO loop tightening around your country and the US anti-missile systems in the former Soviet sattelites?
Did Americans ask you, Europeans, if you really need this anti-Korean (what a nonsense!) and anti-Iran nuclear (which will never appear) missiles.
Think, if you can be 1% fair and realistic.

Victor, Moscow,

So Putilova from Moscow, after what? 5 posted comments, (note to Times; is that a record?) I am to believe that Mr. Putins goal in enabling terrorist states, (Iran) bullying neighbors, (Ukraine, Georgia, etc.) and threatening western Europe, is to restore the self respect and glory of a downtrodden Russia. While America, responsible for all of Russias, (not to mention the rest of the worlds) problems goes down in a collapse of hubris and bellicosity. Does that about cover it? News flash; Russias problems are her own. Czarist tyranny and communist totalitarianism made you who you are, not american imperialism. We are not a threat to you, and if you would lose some of your paranoid illusions, (and self pity) and partner with the west we could do great things for the world. We have so much to learn from each other. But you have a choice to make; a better world or another cold war. Your call.

Joseph Thornton, Warrenton VA, USA

long live russia and long live putin we hope more nuclear armed bear planes and the best of russia mussiles that outdo the west armnents will move close and closer to nato and bang you all to pieces . its about time...ols sins cast long shadows and by the way soon china will be building the most superior submarines that will be 100 km off the coast of usa nd britain...long live putin and russia and long live china

alla , cairo, egypt

When Putin does not get his way, he proceeds to throw the toys out his incredibly large pram. Frankly, there's enough for us brits to worry about , such as the loss of personal details of half the population. We do need to hear about Putin rattling his nuclear sabre.

Jessica , Coventry, UK

I am amazed that the USA and its allies allow someone like the president of Russia do and say as he pleases. How can someone like him dare to have his own opinion on what his neighbours do? How come that country not only has not been broken into pieces while we had yeltsin in our pocket and blissfully believed that the USSR had been done in, but someone still allows the Russian president to speak to real democracies like he does? What a shame, what a disgrace, move on that shield, Mr. Bush, we do not care how much it costs and how many people may be added eventually to those killed in Iraq, it is not so reaaly our guys but the riff-raff from Eastern Europe anyway, so please remember, national security comes first, and when it comes to that, no single country in the world should dare to oppose the USA as we're the only superpower left!

Alex, Kaluga,

Anybody want to knock Putin they can. Before you do so look at your own leaders and your own economy. Most of the world is waking up to Western aggression led by the US. And by the way the US is not a Democracy. It is run by a Dictatorship. Now if you don't know what a Democracy is then you need to go back to a learning institution and find out. If you don't know what a Dictatorship is then you need to do the same and go back and learn before you cause damage to your brain.
Putin is a real General and speaks well compared to the like of Bush. Bush calls himself a Commander in Chief and has no idea of battle or what it's implications are. Please before you think of Bush as a General the you need to compare him to the Great Alexander. Alexander was intelligent and went into battle with his people and his family. Bush is a coward and doens't know what battle is. Putin is true to his cause and his nation and the only chance the world has of ending US aggression.

Bubby, Phuket, Thailand

Those who comment without knowing the true nature of the US's over the horizon radar system, are commenting blissfully ignorant of the situation.

I'm not going to describe how it works or the frequencies the 2nd antenna can produce because most of you would discard me out of hand. But the Russian know and they are very upset, more with the radar system than the interceptors.

I will tell you a couple of things though.
1.- It has terrestrial offensive capabilities.
2.- The directing antenna apart from using the ionosphere as the mirror with additional power can be used as an anti satellite device by pushing large parts of the ionosphere higher to cause friction with low orbiting spy satellites.
3.- The additional power required can be sourced remotely.

Weapons development didn’t stop in the 50’s… wake up.

Ray Bay, Glennallen Alaska, USA

Chris, Tampa, FL, USA,"Russia wants to be a full member of "Great eight" very much - to remit debts and help poor countries along with other countries of the club."(HighBeam). For instance, to Iraq - $10 billions(remitted debts).
Almost $40 billions to poorest countries during 1997-2006 plus "active help"- planes with food, and etc.

Gal, gaithersburg, MD

Could Putin be somehow connected the Rasputin the mad monk who so strongly influenced the Czars in the part of the last century? Could be a descendant, huh? Well, you surely can see his turn of mind in recent years - warmongering.

Dr Thomas,
Brisbane, Australia

Dr Thomas, Brisbane, Australia

I applaud Putin for having the spine to stand up to USA and its controlled dominance over most of the Western world, however, only to a certain extent. This current business is clearly an ego trip by both "superpowers", both claiming defence as their reasons for strategic missile placements, but is it necessary in the first place? Why is it we deem to resolve matters with shows of military might the only way to solve issues? if you ask me, its all pathetic, but this is just the view of a 14 year old.

jammy dodger, leeds,

Czar Putin anyone? How about Putin the great? Suprised he hasnt blamed an ethnic minority yet, oh sorry that was the Georgians. Well maybe he can use bribery, oh sorry forgot about the winter gas cut offs. Hmm he could try killing the critics...opps, well you get what i mean.

Stuart, Fresno USA, USA

Chris from Tampa doesn't take into account that he and others like him are very much responsible for what his government does. As voters it is up to them to be knowledgable enough about candidates positions on various matters to make a reasoned decision as to who to vote for and once voting is complete to require the winning candidate to live up to his/her promises. That's the way democracy is supposed to work. If it doesn't then it is the fault of the citizens as much as the leaders. In this case we certainly should be welcoming Russia, now a Christian country into the Western group of nations. We should not be challenging it to more military buildups. That only serves one purpose to enrich the military industrial complex.

Archie1954, Vancouver, Canada

theyre media obviously isnt the only one thats controlled i live in the u.s and i had to hear about this from a alternative topics sight

justanothergangster, clovis, new mexi-ho

It is nice to know someone else can speak in here besides Putilova L. from Moscow. I wonder if I am the only person that thought she rambled on for minutes about useless rhetoric. And by the way, I am sure your media is controlled Putilova, so you hear what they want you to hear.

James from Boston, you ought to be ashamed of yourself for being from such a patriotic city and having such a cowardly attitude saying your ashamed of your country. What for?? I am not ashamed of the US for a thing. We are a free people and have the right to pursue that freedom. We cant always be held responsible for what elected officials do, so I wont apologize to other nations for squat. By the way we are the USA are sending 2 million dollars to cyclone victims. How much is Russia sending???

Chris, Tampa, FL, USA

Just a few years ago we had an armed ship on manoeuvres that thought it was being approached by a missile which launched a rocket and shot down a civil aircraft full of ordinary people. So what you might say?

So, now we have a missile shield right on the Russian border and someone "thinks" they are under attack and launches a missile, just like before......... with Mr. Putin's atomic forces on full alert. We could find ourselves in a full nuclear war within, what, five minutes?

Want another example. Take the lost CD's with 25 million bank records? It could never happen.... until it did. Some individuals might relish a Dr. Strangelove style war, but the rest of us would be back in the dark ages before morning. I do not call that any sort of defence of our way of life.

Others are right to reflect upon the lessons which should have been learned over the Cuba crisis. If Putin is an old fashioned strong man, he will strike first and ask questions afterwards. We have much to lose.

Chris Coles, Medstead, Alton, United Kingdom

What is going on? I hope that this is just sabre rattling as the US and British armed forces are engaged elsewhere.
If the Russians decide to force concessions, let's see if the Germans actually have any backbone - after all they have an army of 250,000 and one of the largest tank fleets in Europe.

Richard, Norwich,

The real question is why missile defence shield must be placed in the heart of Europe ? Why post Soviet countries must be protected from Iranian's threaten, as it diclared?

N, Spb,

The buzzing of NATO airspace with the Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack . It was prearranged with the RAF that they would be met at a specific set of coordinates. A joint exerise, nothing more.

John, RAF Leeming, UK

>Dan, Jacksonville,
>When the USSR tried to put nukes in Cuba the U.S. blockade
> and threats from Kennedy made them back off.
You misunderstand, the USSR didn't want to put nukes in Cuba, they saw nukes in Turkey and figured out a way to persuade the US to remove them without the US having to lose face.

It was a superb piece of diplomacy.

JonB, Glasgow, UK

Actually, Richard in Plymouth, I believe the gentleman in Brandon was referring to NAFTA when he spoke of the 'North American Union', but who knows. I'm pleased to see he's one American who does not believe that Canada is part of the US.

ChrisC, Ice Station Zebra,

Putin acts with the high aim of making things better in Russia - he is that one ox that drags the plough, if you get my point. Dragging the country out of the Stygian morass of the 90-ies, *without* being internationally antisocial or antipathetic, he just employs the tools he has at command. And where's the problem if you answer back when they're calling you names???

Iskander Shafikov, Ufa, Russia

Keep building that shield USA!!!

Phill, The Wirral, England

MOre and more politicians (i muchly imply Sarkozy) look like they`re here for theatrical (dramatic) posing rather than anything. life goes on without much of their participation anyway lately, the main wealthes of the world having been distributed since ages. let them play on the scene of life as evryone of us does in fact. we `re just playing at different game levels.
Marya, Russia

Marya, Moscow region, Russia

For William in Brandon, NATO does not stand for North American Treaty organisation - it is North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. What ignorance.

By the way, we wouldnt mind you leaving either!

Richard, Plymouth,

Another "aggressive Russia" bashing piece from the subservient British press... Yawn...

Michael, Dubai,

For those of Europe that thought the Soviet Union was dead, have you yet realized what has happened?

DRS

DRS, Somewhere, USA

Is that normal that NATO countries urge Russia to follow the treaty those countries have not ratified? Then, NATO proved its aggressiveness in 1999. Russia may be weak but has it no right for self defense?

Maxim, St. Petersburg, Russia

This is just rhetoric for the masses....the Russian Czar is getting all giddy about the possibility of a weak America leading to a resurgent Russia...I like Vlad though..he looks like he'd loosen up, after a dozen Vodkas or so.

Brent, Toronto, Canada

After a recent scary TV report about the Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack fleet (the one that looks like a copy of the old B1 Valkyrie) and has recently started buzzing NATO airspace, I discovered that you can see all but two of the Tui-160's currently known to exist on Google Earth. They are in the open air on a single airfield on two dispersal areas just over a mile apart. Two cruise missiles could take out the lot.

Frankly, this kind of childish rhetoric is a lot less worrying than some of the things that are being reported on independent news sites like sobkorr.ru in the run up to the elections. Independent candidates being mysteriously drafted into the army at short notice, to get them off the lists. Massive cyber-attacks on human rights web sites. Letter bombs. You get the picture.

Ian Kemmish, BIggleswade, UK

For too long the west has rested on an assumption of superiority. The Russian president should be praised for exposing this old fallacy.
Edward Pearce
About Webfeeds October 31, 2007 4:00 PM |
There is a plague afflicting casual commentary on foreign affairs today, and it is the survivor of cold war assumptions. We talk a great deal too much about "the west," and by implication we mean the good, civilised west facing its enemies. Stalin has been dead for 54 years but across that time "the west" has acquired any number of new enemies. Such thinking or dumb assumption-making has glazed over every act of meddling or aggression by the United States. The rest of us on the western list may hint at doubt and make reservations, but official commentary, the government and increasingly the new, tamed BBC, think systemically of a common western interest. ...

Putilova L., Moscow,

We may yet come to see the America's rise over last 20 years as a kind of convulsion, with triumph leading to calamity, and hubris meeting its nemesis. It may be, and let's candidly hope that it is, the Spanish Empire moment of United States history.
But the glory comes first. The fall of the Soviet Union had to signal American triumphalism, and it did, with neoconservative paranoia turning into neoconservatism on a drunken glass-breaking high. Robert Kagan caught the mood with a little pamphlet rationalising an American duty to intervene wherever it chose in order to reshape the world in a better American way. Such is the amazing want of historical memory that there actually was talk about "a new world order".

Putilova L., Moscow,

Like the last one, it doesn't seem to be working. Banking movements and investment diversifications now suggest an insufficient loyalty more important than any words, any argument. But in 1989 and across the 1990s, with the US embassy in Moscow effectively controlling a western leadership of Russia, the US presidency had its Philip II decade.

Was there ever a more despicable figure than Boris Yeltsin? Drunk and incapable in charge of a nation, he waved through the plunder of national assets by a pack of corrupt skimmers. He approved an abolition of food subsidies instituting an overnight destitution of ordinary people. His function in terms of Russian pride and self-respect was to play collaborator, quisling, self-enriched and wrapped in the consolations of drink and a church gaudily and expensively restored. People ate out of dustbins, but Boris Yeltsin was a westerner, a splendid thing, evidence of western triumph.

Putilova L., Moscow,

Somehow American and British governments have never felt the same way about Vladimir Putin. But then neither have the Russians.

Putin is enormously popular. The device by which he is continuing his leadership, behind a competent but happily subordinate technician, is accepted there as good news. I suggest that we should agree with the Russian people. They are getting what they want and they want it because Putin has governed Russia for Russia and Russians, has put back self-respect in a country whose nadir reflected an American zenith.

There has been luck involved. The rising price of oil has made non-compliance and international truculence pleasantly practicable. Russia behaves badly (from a western point of view) running around like a madman with a razor blade in his hand."

Putilova L., Moscow,

Consider the implications of the coming bombardment of Iran: reinforced terrorist impetus, diminished security of pro-American governments in the Middle East; consider the people who will die, the open and rolling road of imminent contingency, and Vladimir Putin's words seem pretty temperate.

He is making a stand which Brown, Merkel and Sarkozy should be making and which long, hungover assumptions about western-hood make psychologically impossible. The leader of Russia, with his people behind him, speaks for his country and speaks clear, obvious sense. It is a sense which our western complex denies us.

Putilova L., Moscow,

In the 1960s Robert Heinlein wrote Starship Troopers which taked of a world where the Anglo-American-Russian alliance" fought the Sino Empire (China). In the nuclear apocalyptic world that remained most soldiers returned home to find a broken, anarchic society. The soldiers took control and implaced stability on the world, a sort of pax americanum.
Interesting, I wonder if he was onto something?

Andy, York, England

Has Putin gone completed mad? He reminds me of a drunk little guy trying to start a fight in a pub... and no one is interested!

Chris, Winchenstein,

I guess he s just trying to increase oil prices further, to his own benefit!

wmf, Nottingham, Nottingham

Hilarious, the world gets a little bit worse by the day. Never thought I'd be so ashamed of my country and the West (not to mention Israel) as I am today. It's so obvious we're not the good guys anymore.

Jason, Boston, MA

Apparently Mr. Putin has a severe reality problem and thinks the Soviet Union still exists. He is more interested in posing as the leader of a superpower than he is in his country actually being as close to one as is possible.

Mark is apparently looking forward to the end times when Jesus will return and men will be men, and those who haven't learned by then will be in deep brimstone.

Everyone should have learned by now that nuclear weapons are of very little use except to deter others. Apparently they aren't even very useful for that.

Christopher Hobe Morrison, Pine Bush, Ulster County, NY, USA

Spooky stuff. When the USSR tried to put nukes in Cuba the U.S. blockade and threats from Kennedy made them back off.
Now we are trying to put weapons at their back door and we are surprised at their reaction? We didn't allow it . Why should they? I am red, white and blue to the bone but damn, whos calling these shots regarding our relations with other countries? If history provides lessons our leaders must have been playing hooky in Oct 1962.

Dan, Jacksonville,

I agree with Mark in N.H. . We are headed for destruction and in a big way. However, I thinh the U.S. needs to seal it's borders, bring home the troops and put them on OUR borders and use our own resources. It's not our job to make the rest of the world play nice. Lets take care of the U.S and us, and when we are stable, then maybe we can halp out the other nations. By the way. Lets get out of N.A.T.O. and this North American Union garbage and take care of our selves.

William, Brandon, Mississippi

whos the enemy.....

jerry, Los angeles , usa

The false alarm from Kremlin, I know that the US and Russia are friends, their rethorics are only to steal the tundering roar from China. Both are terrified of China's rise to Superpowerdom, US is worried it is slowly weakening, and Russia is experiencing attention deficiet hypertention disorder (ADHD). Recently the two countries' leaders met in the US at camp david, in that meeting they both discussed the rise of China and the threat of terrorism around the world for they were both bosses of the world not so long ago. The breakup of Soviet union got them both lost of what to do without the other, US was free to go about beating up the nations that were hiding behind the protection of the Soviet Union. Now that Soviet Union is out and Russia is trying to replace it, the US is also losing control of the economic wagon of the world. China has entered into the WTO to impact world economy in such a way it has never before. In conclusion, both the US and Russia are scared of China's rise.

James, Detroit, US/MI

Putin, like any good politician, is simply making grandiose statements about protecting national sovereignty for public consumption. In reality, Russia is under no threat whatsoever, as everyone knows, including the Russian people. He simply looks foolish and silly.

John H, Los Angeles, CA, USA

It would seem that the world is ready for an all out war. Why do you think the US military is at an all time low on enlistments? I think we had better wake up and re- en state the draft. The men of this country are so confused about their sexuality because they forget how to be men. The military would be a good place to learn. This country is all over the world flexing its muscles, I hope someone out there doesn't call our bluff !! Who ever said that we had it right? The people of this country live in total abundance and I would bet over 50% of the people in this country are miserable. I would have to say that if you don't know your savior, you had better get to know Him. I truly believe that this whole world is headed for destruction . I hate to be this negative, but really!!

Mark, Merrimack, N.H.