Putin accuses U.S. of meddling in Russia vote

Putin accuses U.S. of meddling in Russia vote

By Oleg Shchedrov

ST PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin accused Washington on Monday of plotting to undermine December parliamentary elections seen widely as a demonstration of his enduring power in Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (2nd L) speaks during a meeting with supporters in St.Petersburg November 26, 2007. Putin said on Monday Russia has information suggesting the United States influenced a decision by OSCE international observers not to monitor the Dec. 2 parliamentary election. (Alexander Demianchuk/Reuters)

"We have information that, once again, this was done on the recommendation of the U.S. State Department," Putin said at a meeting with activists of his United Russia party.

"Their aim is to deprive the elections of legitimacy, that is absolutely clear," he said in his home city of St Petersburg. ODIHR has said Russian obstruction left it with no choice but to cancel the monitoring mission.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that while Washington supported the OSCE's decision, it had not influenced OSCE representatives.

"Our very clear message (to them) was that this is your decision. We don't want to try to influence you one way or another," McCormack told reporters.

He dismissed Putin's sharpness of language as election-time rhetoric. "Any time you have a political season, you sometimes get rhetoric that is a little more sharp than it might otherwise be. I don't put it down to anything more than that," McCormack said.

A poll published on Monday by Russia's FOM pollster predicted United Russia would win 60.1 percent in the vote this weekend, a dip of two percent from the previous week. The poll put nearest rivals the Communist Party at 7.5 percent.

A high vote would underline Putin's popularity and help him retain authority in some form after yielding the presidency.

Two weekend rallies by an anti-Putin coalition protesting that the vote would be unfair were broken up by police using truncheons. Former chess champion Garry Kasparov, one of the coalition's leaders, was one of dozens of people arrested.

Kasparov is serving five days in detention for organizing an illegal protest. A Moscow court on Monday rejected an appeal lodged by his lawyer against the sentence, one of Kasparov's aides told Reuters from the courtroom.

OPPOSITION PROTESTS

In Brussels, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said he was concerned by the "heavy-handed action" by Russian police. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Russia's government should explain its actions.

Kremlin officials say the protesters do not have popular support and are dangerous radicals trying to destabilize Russia with help from foreign governments. Kasparov's coalition barely registers any support in opinion polls.

Putin is running in the election as No. 1 on United Russia's slate of candidates.

The 55-year-old Russian leader has said he will hand over power to a successor in line with a constitutional ban on a head of state serving more than two consecutive terms as president.

Putin, seen by many as bringing Russia much-needed stability, has said he will endorse one of his lieutenants as a successor. But he has refused to say which one.

Some observers speculate that Putin might step down early and run in the presidential vote, exploiting a legal loophole to get around the three-term ban.

Russia's upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, officially named March 2 next year as the date of the presidential vote, shifting the guessing game over what will happen when Putin's term ends into its decisive phase.

After the date has been published in the official gazette on Wednesday, would-be candidates will have 25 days to apply to run in the presidential election.

(Additional reporting by Guy Faulconbridge, Conor Sweeney and Dmitry Solovyov in Moscow and Brussels and Paris bureaux)

(Writing by Christian Lowe, Editing by Richard Balmforth)

Overspending on Yesterday's War

Overspending on Yesterday's War
By MARK THOMPSON/WASHINGTON

When presidential candidates, especially Republicans, head to South Carolina's Citadel military college, it's time to hang on to your wallet. Rudy Giuliani spoke at graduation last May, and called for boosting the Army by 100,000 soldiers — 35,000 more than the 547,000 the Pentagon wants by 2010. On Tuesday, Fred Thompson saw Giuliani's 100,000, and then raised him by nearly 200,000, calling for a 775,000-member force. Thompson also got the military-industrial complex salivating by proposing that 4.5% of the U.S. gross domestic product should be earmarked for defense (not including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq), up 10% from the military's current slice of the economic pie. Numbers crunched by the Senator's staff suggests their boss would boost the current $460 billion military budget (not counting $196 billion for the wars) by $150 billion a year. "Some would say this plan is too much and too big," Thompson said in Charleston. "I don't believe that's the case."

There are some clear problems in Thompson's logic, however. For one, tying the nation's defense spending to its economic output makes absolutely no sense; the scale of defense spending should be determined by threat. If America needs to dedicate a third of its economy to the military — as it did during World War II — it will. But if the panoply of threats facing the nation can be handled with a 2% slice, that's also fine. In the event of an economic depression, would the nation allow its military preparedness to suffer? Surely not. What's more, the Army can't attract the full complement of recruits it needs now; expanding it would require billions of dollars in incentives, and force it to accept less-capable youngsters.
But the G.O.P. isn't alone in playing a Pentagon numbers game. Democrats, who have lost to the Republicans on all 40 legislative initiatives designed to curtail the Iraq war, seem to be getting desperate. Democratic members of the Joint Economic Committee issued a report Tuesday predicting that Afghanistan and Iraq will cost far more than the sums appropriated to fight them. "All potential costs," said the 27-page study, total $3.5 trillion. That's $46,400 per American family. (It's also more than $1 trillion higher than a recent projection by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which limited itself to measuring the wars' direct costs and interest payments on the funds borrowed to fund it.)
Committee Republicans complained that the Democrats' study was "released without any notice or consultation," and they questioned several of the economic calculations used to produce the $3.5 trillion figure. Still, they were unable to rebut the premise that the cost of war goes far beyond those funds appropriated to wage it. Lifetime care for injured troops and upward pressure on oil prices, among other costs, don't show up on the government's bill for combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. Those numbers may be fuzzy, but they're also real — and Republicans plainly don't like to discuss them.
Whatever their complaints about military spending, some Democrats are doing a fine job of ensuring that it flows into their districts and states. Three Democrats from Connecticut, Rep. Joe Courtney and Sens. Christopher Dodd and Joseph Lieberman, prevailed Tuesday in adding $588 million to the Navy's 2008 budget for submarines — built in Connecticut.
"This bill is a vote of confidence in the workers of Connecticut who make the equipment that our military depends on to keep our nation safe," Dodd said. "The additional submarine will fortify Connecticut jobs, and will make the entire country safer," Lieberman added. Courtney, the local congressman in the submarine-building town of Groton, concurred. "We have set a new expedited pace in delivering the most advanced ship to our nation's naval fleet, which will secure our defense jobs in Connecticut," he said. And the legislators from Connecticut are not going to sit on their laurels. Added Courtney, "The next step is to continue discussions for increasing design work on the next-generation submarine." (To stimulate demand for new submarines, the Navy has been known to prematurely retire older submarines.)
The Navy's demand for new submarines is hardly atypical. The Army wants $162 billion for a new fleet of ground vehicles known as the Future Combat Systems. And, not to be shortchanged, the Air Force wants $65 billion to build 184 of its F-22 fighters, designed to prevail in dogfights against Soviet aircraft. That's despite the fact that plane-on-plane aerial combat has followed the Soviet Union into the dustbin of history.
The Citadel has certainly heard the counter-argument: "Every service and every constituency of our military must be willing to sacrifice some of their own pet projects. Our war on terror cannot be used to justify obsolete bases, obsolete programs, or obsolete weapons systems. Every dollar of defense spending must meet a single test: it must help us build the decisive power we will need to win the wars of the future." That was President Bush speaking at the Citadel, three months after 9/11.
In the six years since, however, President Bush has continued, with bipartisan congressional help, to pump hundreds of billions of dollars into obsolete weapons systems. At the same time, the U.S. has deployed inadequate numbers of troops on the ground, lacking basic body armor and vehicles designed to thwart roadside bombs. The wars of the future are not going to be fought tank-on-tank, sub-on-ship, or in glorious dogfights high in the sky. But so long as both parties see the Pentagon as a jobs program to build weapons for wars that will not happen, the nation will continue to bear the burden of politicians boosting military spending rather than retooling it for the 21st Century.

US, Iraq deal sees long-term US presence

US, Iraq deal sees long-term US presence

By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Monday signed a deal setting the foundation for a potential long-term U.S. troop presence in Iraq, with details to be negotiated over matters that have defined the war debate at home — how many U.S. forces will stay in the country, and for how long.

The agreement between Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki confirms that the United States and Iraq will hash out an "enduring" relationship in military, economic and political terms. Details of that relationship will be negotiated in 2008, with a completion goal of July, when the U.S. intends to finish withdrawing the five combat brigades sent in 2007 as part of the troop buildup that has helped curb sectarian violence.

"What U.S. troops are doing, how many troops are required to do that, are bases required, which partners will join them — all these things are on the negotiating table," said Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, President Bush's adviser on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The proposal underlines how the United States and Iraq are exploring what their relationship might look like once the U.S. significantly draws down its troop presence. It comes as a Democratic Congress — unsuccessfully, so far — prods Bush to withdraw troops faster than he wants.

Bush and al-Maliki signed the new U.S.-Iraq "declaration of principles" during a secure video conference Monday morning.

Al-Maliki, in a televised address, said his government would ask the United Nations to renew the mandate for the multinational force for one final time with its authorization to end in 2008.

The U.S.-Iraq agreement will replace the present U.N. mandate regulating the presence of the U.S.-led forces in Iraq. Al-Maliki said the agreement provides for U.S. support for the "democratic regime in Iraq against domestic and external dangers."

It also would help the Iraqi government thwart any attempt to suspend or repeal a constitution drafted with U.S. help and adopted in a nationwide vote in 2005. That appeared to be a reference to any attempt to remove the government by violence or in a coup.

Al-Maliki said the renewal of the multinational forces' mandate was conditional on the repeal of what he called restrictions on Iraqi sovereignty introduced in 1990 by the U.N. Security Council to punish Iraq for invading neighboring Kuwait.

The new agreement would not signal an end to the U.S. mission here. But it could change the rules under which U.S. soldiers operate and give the Iraqis a greater role in determining their mission.

Two Republican senators said that unless Baghdad makes more political progress by January, the U.S. should consider withdrawing financial aid or political support from al-Maliki.

The warnings, coming from Sens. Lindsey Graham and Saxby Chambliss, were an indication that while GOP patience on the war has increased this fall because of security gains made by the military, it isn't bottomless.

"I do expect them to deliver," Graham, R-S.C., said in a phone interview. "What would happen for me if there's no progress on reconciliation after the first of the year, I would be looking at ways to invest our money into groups that can deliver."

Likewise, Chambliss, R-Ga., suggested lawmakers might even call for al-Maliki's ouster if Baghdad didn't reach agreements on at least some of the major issues seen as key to tamping down sectarian violence.

Two senior Iraqi officials familiar with the issue say Iraq's government will embrace a long-term U.S. troop presence in return for U.S. security guarantees as part of a strategic partnership. The two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the subject is sensitive, said U.S. military and diplomatic representatives appeared generally favorable, subject to negotiations on the details, which include preferential treatment for American investments.

Preferential treatment for U.S. investors could provide a huge windfall if Iraq can achieve enough stability to exploit its vast oil resources. Such a deal would also enable the United States to maintain leverage against Iranian expansion at a time of growing fears about Tehran's nuclear aspirations.

The framework Bush approved outlines broad principles, such as that both countries will support Iraq's economic institutions, and help its government train Iraqi security forces to provide stability for all Iraqis. Lute said "all major national leaders of the existing Iraqi government" have committed to it.

"The basic message here should be clear: Iraq is increasingly able to stand on its own; that's very good news, but it won't have to stand alone," said Lute, who rarely holds televised briefings.

He said it is too soon to tell what the "shape and size" of the U.S. military commitment will look like, including military bases.

The Iraqi officials said that under the proposed formula, Iraq would get full responsibility for internal security and U.S. troops would relocate to bases outside the cities. Iraqi officials foresee a long-term presence of about 50,000 U.S. troops, down from the current figure of more than 160,000.

___

Associated Press Writer Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this story.

Illegal immigrants not U.S. health care burden: study

Illegal immigrants not U.S. health care burden: study

Mon Nov 26, 4:14 PM ET

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illegal Latino immigrants do not cause a drag on the U.S. health care system as some critics have contended and in fact get less care than Latinos in the country legally, researchers said on Monday.

Such immigrants tend not to have a regular doctor or other health-care provider yet do not visit emergency rooms -- often a last resort in such cases -- with any more frequency than Latinos born in the United States, according to the report from the University of California's School of Public Health.

The finding from Alexander Ortega and colleagues at the school was based on a 2003 telephone survey of thousands of California residents, including 1,317 undocumented Mexicans, 2,851 citizens with Mexican immigrant parents, 271 undocumented Latinos from countries other than Mexico and 852 non-Mexican Latinos born in the United States.

About 8.4 million of the 10.3 million illegal aliens in the United States are Latino, of which 5.9 million are from Mexico, the report said.

"One recurrent theme in the debate over immigration has been the use of public services, including health care," Ortega's team wrote in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

"Proponents of restrictive policies have argued that immigrants overuse services, placing an unreasonable burden on the public. Despite a scarcity of well-designed research ... use of resources continues to be a part of the public debate," they said.

The researchers said illegal Mexican immigrants had 1.6 fewer visits to doctors over the course of a year than people born in the country to Mexican immigrants. Other undocumented Latinos had 2.1 fewer physician visits than their U.S.-born counterparts, they said.

"Low rates of use of health-care services by Mexican immigrants and similar trends among other Latinos do not support public concern about immigrants' overuse of the health care system," the researchers wrote.

"Undocumented individuals demonstrate less use of health care than U.S.-born citizens and have more negative experiences with the health care that they have received," they said.

(Reporting by Michael Conlon; Editing by Maggie Fox and Bill Trott)

Báo cũ Monday, Oct. 10, 1949 | TIME

INDOCHINA

For three years, the French have been fighting a weary, tenacious jungle war against the Communists in Indo-China. To save France's richest prewar colony (and a potentially important anti-Communist base in Southeast Asia), the French government has thrown a third of its small, painstakingly rebuilt army into the fight; so far, it has been unable to achieve anything like a decisive victory over Communist Leader Ho Chi Minh. Last week it looked as if the French chances of licking Ho had improved.

Last spring, the French proclaimed IndoChina's autonomy under the French Union (roughly designed as an equivalent of the British Commonwealth).* They also returned to the Indo-Chinese their plump former Emperor Bao Dai ("The Great Protector").  In his exile at La Croisette, near Cannes, Bao Dai lived quietly in a 20-room chateau, occasionally visited a bar (drinking only coffee) and gambled modestly at the Cannes casino, 10,000 francs ($30) being his limit for one night. Early this year, the French government sent bluff Leon Pignon, French high commissioner for Indo-China, to persuade His Majesty that he must return to his country as "chief of state."

100 dozen ping-pong balls

Bao Dai did not look like the man to lead his people to independence and victory over the Communists. When he first assumed his Dragon Throne (1932), he was a playboy and a puppet. The French owned him, along with the 7,000 jazz phonograph records and the 100 dozen ping-pong balls with which he moved into his teakwood Palace of Supreme Peace. The young emperor, as "absolute master, father and mother" of his tough, diligent people, seemed only partly to fulfill the requirements of the Imperial Book of Rites which says that "the Emperor's eyes must dwell motionless upon utter vacancy, as his mind is filled with August Thoughts." When Bao Dai returned to his country last June, IndoChina's mother & father was changed. He no longer wanted to be a playboy or a puppet. TIME Correspondent Sam Welles visited the Emperor and his troubled country, cabled:

In the old days, Bao Dai's favorite sport (in addition to chasing chorus girls) was tracking down tigers, elephants and gaur (fierce wild buffalo) on foot through the jungle. That took intelligence and guts. Both traits are needed in the fierce jungle of Viet Namese politics, and Bao Dai is displaying both. The Communist radio had predicted that he would be assassinated; the French authorities were so concerned that at public ceremonies they kept the crowds 100 yards from His Majesty and gave him an armored car. But Bao Dai scorned such protection. At Hanoi, which he proclaimed his capital, he walked down a narrow street, right through 50,000 people, any one of whom could have killed him with a pistol or a grenade. He has done this again & again all over the country, walking as calmly as he did when he was stalking gaur.

"Every statesman should have a sport," he says with a twinkle. Then he adds seriously: "I cannot gain support by bowing from a distant balcony."

A Medieval Touch. Bao Dai is gaining support. Many nationalists who in the past fought the French are joining him. They have come to believe that the French are sincere in giving Indo-China self-rule. By year's end, Viet Nam will run its own courts, finances, railways and utilities. The French will have to retain a heavy hand in military affairs; they are now training a Viet Namese national army of 90,000 to complement the 130,000 French troops now in Indo-China. Chief problem of the French is to clear the Communists from the country's rich food-producing areas and to prevent a junction between Ho's forces and the victorious Communists of China.

The French are doing well in both respects. Last year, the Communists controlled virtually the entire country except the major cities. Since then they have lost the key rural areas, including the Red River delta and Mekong River delta, where 90% of IndoChina's rice is grown. In a land that is five-sixths jungle, Ho and his forces can still strike almost anywhere. But while last year the Communists levied $30 million worth of money and rice from farmers taking their crops to town, government forces now guard the roads so well that the Reds' toll is almost nil. This has been achieved by what one French colonel called un petit cachet medieval: sentries are posted on 40-ft. towers recently built on each road at one-mile intervals. A dawn patrol from each tower digs up the land mines which the Communists plant during the night.

Mangoes & Chanel No. 5.

The little medieval touch has given the new regime a valuable breather. Some of the country's wounds are healing fast. In Sontay, once a thriving town of 6,000 in the Red River delta, only seven people and one church were left when the French took it from the Communists last November. When I visited Sontay last month, it was largely rebuilt, 5,000 of its people had returned, and in its bustling market, cheerful, slim-hipped women were buying everything from mangoes to Chanel No. 5.

The approach of the Chinese Communists across the border has given the Reds visions of decisive victory, but it has also aggravated a growing rift between the hard Communist core of leaders around Ho, who are ready to accept Mao Tse-tung's leadership, and the rank & file, who fear China and want Viet Nam for the Viet Namese. One French general told me: "For two years I had to keep statistics of desertions to the Communists. For the last two months my statistics are Communist desertions to us."

Guilty Husband. France has taught many Indo-Chinese to read (they have one of Asia's highest literacy rates—40%), but it did not teach them how to rule themselves. Viet Nam has many ambitious politicians with loose personal followings. The most remarkable of these is perky little Ho Phap, self-styled pope of Caodaism, a faith (founded by him in 1926) which combines belief in everything from Confucianism to Christianity. Ho Phap, who claims 2,000,000 disciples, has a private army of 20,000 which provides Bao Dai's personal guard and bitterly fights the Communists as enemies of religion.

Among Bao Dai's other loyal followers are the Mois, a million G-stringed men and bare-breasted women who still lead a nomad life in the uplands. Last June, Buddhist Bao Dai personally took the oath of allegiance of a Moi tribal chief. The Mois still live under their ancient tribal laws, including the one that covers adultery. The first time an adulterous wife is caught, her lover is punished for seducing her. The second time, she is punished for permitting herself to be seduced again. The third time, the husband is punished—for not knowing how to keep her in line.

This quaint law of Father & Mother Bao Dai's subjects has its larger applications. In the past, the French (and all the West) might blame Communist successes on the Communists, who seduced Asia's millions, or on the people, who let themselves be seduced. But today, in Indo-China and elsewhere, it is clearly up to the West to keep Asia's people in line, by offering them a better life than the Communist tempters.



*Most important part of the new Indo-China (with 21 out of 25 million of its people) is the Union of Viet Nam, composed of the old colonial provinces of Cochin-China, Annam and Tonkin, and run by an autonomous federal government. To continue as French 

protectorates with semi-autonomous status are the remaining two provinces: Laos, the land with the three-headed elephant in its flag (TIME, Aug. 1) and Cambodia, ruled by young (26) King Norodom Sihanouk.

Dân chủ ở Lebanon

Bạn có muốn có những nhóm thân nước ngoài tranh giành quyền lực ở VN?

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Political crisis deepens in Lebanon

By ZEINA KARAM and BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writers 1 hour, 43 minutes ago

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Prime Minister Fuad Saniora assured his country Saturday that the military was in control of the streets while lawmakers struggled to overcome a political crisis that has left the country without a president.

The army made clear it will stay out of politics, emerging as the country's best hope for stability.

Beirut remained calm Saturday and shops opened for business following a tumultuous day that intensified fears of street violence between supporters of Saniora's U.S.-backed government and the opposition led by the Shiite militant group Hezbollah and backed by Syria and Iran.

After months of trying, the two rival camps were unable to agree on a compromise candidate to succeed pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud who stepped down Friday night, leaving a political vacuum.

In his first comments since Lahoud left office, Saniora defended his government, saying it will continue to function according to the constitution. In the absence of a president, Saniora's cabinet, which the opposition considers illegitimate, takes executive power under the constitution.

"Our main goal in the coming stage, which we hope will not take longer than few days, will be to exert all possible efforts ... to end this situation as soon as possible," said Saniora.

He dismissed a declaration by Lahoud, who before departing the presidential palace at midnight Friday said the country was in a "state of emergency" and he was handing over security powers to the army.

"There is no state of emergency, and there is no need for that," Saniora said. "There is absolutely no need for any Lebanese to be concerned about the security situation. The army is doing its work and is in full control of the situation on the ground."

The departure of Lahoud, a staunch ally of Syria during his nine years in office, was a long-sought goal of the government installed by parliament's anti-Syria majority. The government has been trying to put one of its own in the post and seal the end of Syrian dominance of Lebanon.

International pressure and mass protests after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri forced Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon in 2005 after 29 years. Many in Lebanon blamed Syria for Hariri's killing but Syria denied it.

Hezbollah and its opposition allies have been able to stymie the government's hopes by repeatedly boycotting parliamentary votes for a new president, as they did Friday afternoon, leaving it without the required quorum.

Pro-government Christian leader Samir Geagea accused Syrian-backed Hezbollah of obstructing the election.

"We will not let Syria control again Lebanese politics no matter what happens," he warned at a news conference.

Opposition Christian politician Michel Aoun warned against the cabinet taking over the role of the presidency.

The fight has put Lebanon into dangerous and unknown territory. Both sides are locked in bitter recriminations, accusing the other of breaking the constitution, and they are nowhere near a compromise candidate.

So far, the 56,000-member military has successfully kept this tiny, fractious country together, surviving one crisis after another since the February 2005 assassination of Hariri.

On Saturday, army chief of staff Maj. Gen. Shawki al-Masri visited the Presidential Guards at Baabda Palace near Beirut and said the army command will strengthen security measures when needed as it "did in the past years."

The army will face a tough challenge maintaining the peace in the coming days and weeks amid the sectarian-charged atmosphere and persistent reports of proliferation of small arms among individuals and political parties.

In the past two years, the army has emerged as a neutral force, protecting and separating pro- and anti-Syrian groups and maintaining order during angry protests and funerals. In January, the army imposed a curfew to quell Shiite-Sunni clashes that killed 11 people.

Army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman has ordered his soldiers to ignore politics and "listen to the call of duty."

But the open-ended political crisis raises the question of how long the under-armed and over-stretched army can continue to hold.

Experts say the army will be united unless Lebanon endures major sectarian violence — especially fighting between Sunni and Shiite Muslims — over an extended period.

"Then it will start to fracture," said retired Lebanese army general Elias Hanna.

He said the conditions today are different from those at the onset of the 1975-90 civil war, which pitted Christians against Muslims and saw the military splinter along sectarian lines. Unlike then, Lebanon political tensions are now fractionalized more along Sunni-Shiite lines, with Christians divided.

Putin gọi đối lập là 'chó hoang'

Rõ ràng mục tiêu của Anh-Mỹ không phải là "dân chủ" hay "tự do" mà là lợi dụng chiêu bài đó để cướp đi dân chủ tự do độc lập của một quốc gia mà thôi.
Họ đã tốn bao nhiêu công sức và tiền bạc để đánh sập LX. Nước Nga bây giờ đã có đa đảng nhưng họ vẫn chưa thỏa mãn vì chưa có một đảng thân Anh-Mỹ lên cầm quyền ở nước này!
Một cường quốc như Nga mà họ còn nuôi tham vọng nắm đầu gián tiếp thì họ có tha một nước đang phát triển nằm ở một vị trí địa lý hết sức quan trọng như VN không đây? VN có rất nhiều người sẵn sàng nhận tiền làm việc cho Mỹ như đã từng xảy ra trong lịch sử.
Theo lời Putin, ở Nga cũng vậy, có nhiều người Nga đang nhận tiền của sứ quán nước ngoài để làm việc chống lại Kremlin.
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Putin gọi đối lập là 'chó hoang'
Còn chưa đầy hai tuần trước khi có kỳ tổng tuyển cử tại Nga, Tổng thống Putin đã ra đòn tấn công các nhân vật chính trị đối lập bằng việc ví họ như lũ chó hoang ăn của bố thí của các sứ quán nước ngoài.

Tổng thống Putin nói rằng Phương Tây muốn giở trò bẩn thỉu

Trong buổi ra mắt đám đông ủng hộ viên của mình, ông Putin nói rằng Phương Tây muốn giở trò bẩn.

Ông nói "những ai đối đầu với chúng ta không muốn thực hiện kế hoạch của chúng ta bởi họ có các kế hoạch cho nước Nga hoàn toàn khác biệt".
Tổng thống Nga cáo buộc những nhân vật đối lập muốn có một nước Nga yếu thế, vô tổ chức và xã hội bị chia rẽ.
Ông Putin cũng cảnh báo các giới đầu sỏ vốn thao túng chính trường Nga hồi thập niên 1990 đang lên kế hoạch trở lại.
Mặc dù sẽ từ bỏ ghế tổng thống vào năm sau nhưng ông Putin tỏ ý ông sẽ vẫn hoạt động chính trị, có thể là với tư cách là thủ tướng.
Ông nói là ông sẽ lãnh đạo đảng Thống nhất Nga trong kỳ bầu cử quốc hội vào tháng Mười Hai mặc dù ông không phải là đảng viên.
Đảng của ông được sự hậu thuẫn khá lớn và theo dự kiến sẽ thắng với đa số phiếu.
Các nhóm đối lập và nhân quyền đã chỉ trích và cáo buộc ông Putin đang dùng lối cũ thời Liên Xô cũ để hình thành một nhà nước độc đảng toàn trị.