This just in, from TheMoscowTimes.com...

[Globe]

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2004/06/21/001.html

Putin Says Iraq Planned U.S. Attacks

By Simon Saradzhyan
Staff Writer Giving an unexpected boost to U.S. President George W. Bush's claim that Saddam Hussein's regime had posed a threat to the United States, President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Russian intelligence agencies had received information that Iraq was planning terrorist attacks against American targets and warned U.S. intelligence.

The announcement appeared to surprise the Bush administration, which is under fire in an election year for still not proving Hussein's regime had weapons of mass destruction or links to al-Qaida, which carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

"After the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and before the start of the military operation in Iraq, intelligence repeatedly received information that the official services of the Saddam regime were preparing terrorist acts against military and civil targets on the territory of the United States and beyond," Putin told reporters Friday in the Kazakh capital, Astana, where he was attending a summit of several former Soviet republics.

But how would the clandestine-collaborator EVER believe the Russians, since they continue to stand arm-in-arm with the US, concerning US intervention in Iraq, as they have done so for the past several years? :lol:

*waits for the "neo-con" verbage to flow, concerning Putin...* :rolleyes:

[USA#1-TrQ]

Only heard the portion of the article you read to me earlier.....will read it in more depth later. :) Can't say it will change my mind about the Bush administration, but ya never know....NOT! ;)

[Clandestine]

Do note USA, that Thanny conveniently only quotes as much of the article as will alllow him to ignore the very apparent political motivation for such a claim by Putin.

Go further down and youll find reference to the fact that even Powell had never heard of such intelligence (though with the administration's typical caveat that they just might not have been informed....).

Considering that Putin has now essentially garnered all private media in Russia under his thumb and has his own very pressing economic reconstruction issues weighing upon him, currying favour by letting slip a little unverifiable PR (carefully worded in the vaguest terms) in support of Bush is his effort to broker stronger economic and political ties. Tis a very well known and oft repeated tactic in international relations.

Moreover, one must remember that again Putin has his own Iraq (whilst, moreover, undoubtedly hoping to secure some US reciprocity over monies owed Russia by Iraq itself) in the form of Chechnya, for which he is most certainly hoping for continued US support.

Given an administration which has catered to soundbites over substance, such a statement (as unsurprisingly demonstrated by Thanny) gives Bush further yardage in the press in the face of a lengthy investigative process which has concluded what we who opposed the PNAC agenda from the start have said all along.

[Aladdin]

Really! Talk about grasping at straws Thanatos! :lol:

[BlackArab]

Do recommend that you read the whole article. :yes:

Very interesting comment from Powell, I'll try not to read between the lines.

[LabRat]

Do you believe to the former KGB chief?!
Are you crazy?