Putin Jabs Bush: ‘We Certainly Would Not Want…The Same Kind of Democracy As They Have in Iraq’
During a press conference today at the G8 summit in Russia, President Bush told President Vladimir Putin that Americans want Russia to develop a free press and free religion “like Iraq.” To laughter and applause, Putin responded: “We certainly would not want to have same kind of democracy as they have in Iraq, quite honestly.” CNN’s Ed Henry called it a “tough jab.” Watch it here.
Time was when America was respected as the beacon of freedom and opoportunity, a place where people in other countries could look to as an example of how things should be. No longer. Now we’re almost universally reviled as as the world’s bully, a country only too willing to kick sand in the face of those countries who would dare to disobey us. What’s worse is that we’re willing to kill innocent civilians by the thousands to achieve our policy goals- which seem to be all about making the world safe for America and American democracy.
I’m no fan of Vladimir Putin, but his smackdown of Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader was classic. It was also spot on. There is nothing about what has happened in Iraq that should be emulated. To refer to, or even to consider, Iraq as a functional democracy is laughable. To expect Russia to pattern their sorry excuse for a democracy after Iraq only goes to show how completely out of touch Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader is.
Before this Administration goes about lecturing other countries on how to install and run a democracy, they might want to give some serious consideration to getting ther own house in order. It’s not as if the neo-Conservative version of American democracy has turned into anything to be proud of.
