Putin Joins the Liar Brigade

Of course, he's probably a charter member. Nevertheless, here are some excerpts from an article from the Irish Times, March 21, 2003, by Dan McLaughlin and Derek Scally (sorry, there doesn't seem to be a direct link to the article; I got it through the University of Michigan Library):

Russian President Mr Vladimir Putin cast aside his customary reticence yesterday and ripped into the US over Iraq. He said Washington's attack on Baghdad was unjustified, it undermined global stability and could lead to humanitarian and ecological disaster.
...
"If the rule of might replaces the rule of law then no country can feel safe," he said. "That is exactly why Russia insists on the swift termination of military action.

"There are already victims and destruction. The whole region is threatened by a major humanitarian and ecological catastrophe," Mr Putin said, denouncing the war as "contrary to global public opinion, the principles and norms of international law and the United Nations Charter". The Russian leader told Washington that he had seen no evidence to support US allegations that Iraq was linked to international terror groups, and said the White House's declared intention of removing President Saddam was illegal.

"What's more, up until the start of [military] operation, Iraq did not represent any danger to its neighbours, or to other countries or regions of the world," he said, while commending UN arms inspectors on their abortive search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and urging Washington to return the crisis to UN control.

So what does Pooty Poot say today?

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in comments sure to help President Bush, declared Friday that Russia knew Iraq's Saddam Hussein had planned terror attacks on U.S. soil and had warned Washington.

Putin said Russian intelligence had been told on several occasions that Saddam's special forces were preparing to attack U.S. targets inside and outside the United States.

"After the events of September 11, 2001, and before the start of the military operation in Iraq, Russian special services several times received information that the official services of the Saddam regime were preparing 'terrorist acts' on the United States and beyond its borders," he told reporters.

"This information was passed on to our American colleagues," he said. He added, however, that Russian intelligence had no proof that Saddam's agents had been involved in any particular attack.

While technically, I guess, Pooty could claim that he didn't contradict himself, since the "official services of the Saddam regime" probably doesn't qualify as an "international terror group." However, he did say last year that "Iraq did not represent any danger to its neighbours, or to other countries or regions of the world," so either these plans were meaningless musings on napkins, or more likely Putin is lying.

And the incredibly useless press claims that Pooty's comments are "sure to help President Bush." Billmon and his commentators offer many possible reasons as to why Putin has become Bush's liar-du-jour.