renata
11th April 2003, 02:21 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/04/11/sprj.irq.stpetersburg/index.html
Emphasis mine below
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has been hosting a meeting of "antiwar" leaders in St. Petersburg to press for the reconstruction of Iraq to be led by the United Nations.
Putin said Friday the world was better off without Saddam Hussein but he criticized the U.S. and British military force by which the former Iraqi leader had been toppled.
Speaking alongside German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder at a conference in Russia's second city, he said: "We always said that the regime of Saddam Hussein does not correspondent to democracy and human rights... but you cannot solve such problems with military means."
Answering a question, Putin, who was later also due to meet French President Jacques Chirac, said 80 percent of the world fell short of western standards of democracy. "Do we go to war with all of them?" he asked.
"If we weigh up what is good and what is bad in the results of this war -- it is positive that we have got rid of a tyrannical regime. But by what means? Losses, destruction and the deaths of people. This is a negative consequence," he said.
Putin, Chirac and Schroeder, all of whom opposed the U.S.-led war on Iraq, gathered in the Russian leader's hometown to make a joint call for the U.N. to oversee post-Saddam reconstruction.
....
"We stand for the fastest return of this issue to the framework of the United Nations," Putin said.
"Russia and Germany are in favor of a political solution. There are no prospects for a military solution," he said.
A top Pentagon official Thursday suggested France, Germany and Russia would better contribute to reconstruction by forgiving debts to any new Iraqi government.
The meeting in St Petersburg had originally been planned just for Putin and Schroeder but Chirac was added to the guest list as U.S. forces ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
I did a double take when I read Putin's statement, bolded above. Didn't US just show that you can solve these "problems" with military means? I assume by "problems" he meant Saddam's regime.
I think it is a good idea to involve UN in reconstruction or Iraq. Many relief agencies funded by UN would likely be very effective in Iraq. I think it is a bad idea if it is just countries who opposed the war jumping on the coalition bandwagon. Does anyone know whether out mystery friends in our coalition of the willing will reveal themselves now that they won. There is a great article about them here. Read till the end- the monkeys bit is great.
Many Willing, But Few Are Able (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A21268-2003Mar24?language=printer)
Emphasis mine below
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has been hosting a meeting of "antiwar" leaders in St. Petersburg to press for the reconstruction of Iraq to be led by the United Nations.
Putin said Friday the world was better off without Saddam Hussein but he criticized the U.S. and British military force by which the former Iraqi leader had been toppled.
Speaking alongside German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder at a conference in Russia's second city, he said: "We always said that the regime of Saddam Hussein does not correspondent to democracy and human rights... but you cannot solve such problems with military means."
Answering a question, Putin, who was later also due to meet French President Jacques Chirac, said 80 percent of the world fell short of western standards of democracy. "Do we go to war with all of them?" he asked.
"If we weigh up what is good and what is bad in the results of this war -- it is positive that we have got rid of a tyrannical regime. But by what means? Losses, destruction and the deaths of people. This is a negative consequence," he said.
Putin, Chirac and Schroeder, all of whom opposed the U.S.-led war on Iraq, gathered in the Russian leader's hometown to make a joint call for the U.N. to oversee post-Saddam reconstruction.
....
"We stand for the fastest return of this issue to the framework of the United Nations," Putin said.
"Russia and Germany are in favor of a political solution. There are no prospects for a military solution," he said.
A top Pentagon official Thursday suggested France, Germany and Russia would better contribute to reconstruction by forgiving debts to any new Iraqi government.
The meeting in St Petersburg had originally been planned just for Putin and Schroeder but Chirac was added to the guest list as U.S. forces ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
I did a double take when I read Putin's statement, bolded above. Didn't US just show that you can solve these "problems" with military means? I assume by "problems" he meant Saddam's regime.
I think it is a good idea to involve UN in reconstruction or Iraq. Many relief agencies funded by UN would likely be very effective in Iraq. I think it is a bad idea if it is just countries who opposed the war jumping on the coalition bandwagon. Does anyone know whether out mystery friends in our coalition of the willing will reveal themselves now that they won. There is a great article about them here. Read till the end- the monkeys bit is great.
Many Willing, But Few Are Able (http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A21268-2003Mar24?language=printer)