Putin to Blair: We Are Not With You and We Don’t Believe You

Ouch. This can’t be good.

Mr Blair had been hoping to use his influence to persuade Russia to agree to the Anglo-US demand to lift sanctions on Iraq in return for giving the UN an as yet unspecified “vital role” in the reconstruction of Iraq and its new government.

But Mr Putin said Russia and its partners “believe until clarity is achieved over whether weapons of mass destruction exist in Iraq, sanctions should be kept in place”. Almost mocking Mr Blair, he went on: “Where is Saddam? Where are those arsenals of weapons of mass destruction, if indeed they ever existed? Perhaps Saddam is still hiding somewhere in a bunker underground, sitting on cases of weapons of mass destruction and is preparing to blow the whole thing up and bring down the lives of thousands of Iraqi people.”

France, Germany and Russia. Plus add to the consideration of the Sino-Russian pact signed years ago. Things are not looking up for the good guys. Just might be time to see how the world economy does without America pouring billions of dollars in world trade to certain nations who can’t play by the rules. . . specifically by renegotiating trade agreements with France until we see “regime change” in Paris, namely with the replacement of Chirac. After all, turnabout is fair play, as Putin et al. are so skillfully demonstrating.