Putin Gets Harsh on the US
 

Vlad Putin got right out there on the US, talking about the dropping of the A bomb on civs, working over the Nam. Whats the dealio, is he trying to flex and look tough or what?

All the stuff he said was true, but I am sure that the USSR has/had its share of stained undies as well.

Hard to flex when your military is out dated and in shambles

I think Putin is supposed to be Bush's guest for dinner in the US. The nuke poisoning last Nov has the new KGB all over it. Putin would have to have signed off on the nuke transfer to the killer.

Maybe he's trying to level the playing field.

Pretty much all they have to take to the table these days is energy. Russia has vast deposits of oil and gas and every time they get flaky they increase the price by 50% or 100% to the countries that they are selling product to.

He is trying to bring back the heyday feeling that the Soviet Union is a world power and its not working very well.

Russia has been having a population decrease of about 250,000/yr for awhile.

Maybe he wants to crack a deal w/Bush to trade some of our illegals for oil?

True, but as Joe stated, Putin's new weapon is the oil tank, not Main Battle Tanks.

Part of me wonders if Putin longs for his glory days in the KGB...

no matter how much his conventional forces suk
i'm sure he can still do plenty damage with his nukes if he wanted to...

He wants to remain supreme leader past his final day and is asking Bush if he thinks it's as easy to modify the Constitution in Russia as it is in the US by "Progressives".