From the Council of Weasels
: There are fun PR two-steps coming out of the Council of Weasels meeting in Russia. TASS, the official news agency, quotes Putin:
Putin said “We have never said we support Saddam Hussein’s regime, we have always said his regime does not correspond to human rights.”
But one cannot resolve the problem by means of war, otherwise should wars be waged against 80 percent of countries who fail to conform to western standards? Putin said.
“Only nations themselves should determine their fate,” the president said.
OK, Puty-put. So you’d be happy if Yugoslavia were still bombing and cleansing at your doorstep. And I get it: Chechnya shouldn’t determine its fate because it’s not a nation. Or is it?
: A fuller quote and different translation from another story:
“We must remember that up to 80 per cent of the world’s nations do not meet European democratic standards but only the people of these nations can determine their future. The principle of sovereignty should remain unshakable,” Mr. Putin said.
“And another question is: are those nations ready for the introduction of democracy?”
See my note below on anti-war side’s condescension to the Iraqi people.
Not ready for democracy?
When are humans not ready for democracy? When are they ready, instead, for totalitarian rule?
I guess Russia wasn’t ready for democracy all those years and that’s why it had Joe Stalin, eh?
And when the Berlin Wall fell, was Russia ready for democracy then … or did the people demand it?
Now that Baghdad has fallen, will the other Arab nations be ready for democracy…or will the people simply demand it?
: Schroeder also made reference to needed reforms at the U.N. — including reforms of the security council.
I think the accepted definition of Security Council reform is kicking France off, no?
