Putin attacks 'very dangerous' US

It would appear that Vladimer Putin has had enough of Bush's threatening behaviour towards Iran. Indeed, has even gone as far as to lay the blame for nuclear proliferation directly at the door of Bush's foreign policy.

At a summit in Munich he has attacked the United States for what he said was its "almost uncontained" use of force around the world.

America's "very dangerous" approach to global relations was fuelling a nuclear arms race, he told a security summit.

"One state, the United States, has overstepped its national borders in every way," he said, speaking through a translator.

"This is very dangerous. Nobody feels secure anymore because nobody can hide behind international law.

"This is nourishing an arms race with the desire of countries to get nuclear weapons."

BBC defence and security correspondent Rob Watson, in Munich, said Mr Putin's speech was a strident performance which may well be remembered as a turning point in international relations.

Personally, I think Putin is to be applauded for calling Bush's foreign policy out for what it is. It is a form of hypocritical bullying that is carried out in total contravention of international law. And, with Bush and his cronies now making noises regarding Iran, I think it's high time that someone indicated to Bush that the world will not roll over as it did before the Iraq war and simply accept Bush's assertions, nor should the world stand silently by whilst Bush and his neo-con buddies make plans to attack another sovereign nation without the involvement of the UN.

Of course, Joe Liebermann could be expected to give us the Republican... sorry, the independent perspective:

US Senator Joseph Lieberman described it as "provocative. Its rhetoric "sounded more like the Cold War", the senator said.

You'll notice that Joe doesn't bother to attempt to challenge the substance of Putin's charge, instead preferring to concentrate on it's tone. The simple fact is that the US has already acted outside of international law during it's invasion of Iraq and, from all the noises emanating from right wing think tanks, is seriously considering doing so again with regards to Iran.

Mr Putin's spokesman Dimitry Peskov said the speech was "not about confrontation, it's an invitation to think".

"Until we get rid of unilateralism in international affairs, until we exclude the possibility of imposing one country's views on others, we will not have stability," he said.

Joe won't address these points because he basically agrees with the concept of American exceptionalism, the belief that the United States has an exceptional position among countries, and should not be bound by international law except where it serves American interests.

This hideous and hypocritical stance is behind Bush's insistence that Iran should desist from enriching uranium, even as the US - under Bush's direction - explores a new range of bunker busting nuclear technology.

Putin has at last called a spade a spade. Shortly after 9-11 the world effectively gave Bush a free pass, in part because we all agreed that a hideous crime had been committed, and also because - with that crime fresh in people's minds - no-one wanted to be accused of anti-Americanism.

With his foray into Iraq Bush drained the well of sympathy that the US had acquired world wide.

Liebermann and others may not like it, but there are many people all over the planet who will be applauding Putin for saying what many of us are thinking. There can be no international law if the most powerful country in the world insists that this is something that it need not concern itself with and can ignore at it's will.

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tag: Putin, Bush, Iraq, American values, principles, Iran, UN, international law