Putin Says U.S. Faces Big Risks in Iraqi Mission

[kskiska]

MOSCOW, Oct. 5 — President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia says the United States now faces in Iraq the possibility of a prolonged, violent and ultimately futile war like the one that mired the Soviet Union in Afghanistan.

In an expansive interview on Saturday evening, Mr. Putin warned that Iraq could "become a new center, a new magnet for all destructive elements." He added, without naming them, that "a great number of members of different terrorist organizations" have been drawn into the country since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

To respond to this emerging threat, he said, the Bush administration must move quickly to restore sovereignty to Iraqis and to secure a new United Nations resolution that would clearly define how long international forces remain there.

(snip)

Mr. Putin said for the first time that Russia was prepared to offer partial relief on the $8 billion it is owed by Iraq, but only in coordination with other major creditor nations in the Paris Club. The United States has been struggling to persuade its European allies to make significant contributions to the multibillion-dollar rebuilding of Iraq.

more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/06/international/europe/06PUTI.html?hp

Excerpts from interview:
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/06/international/06PTEX.html

[lindashaw]

1. Khrushchev warned Kennedy about Vietnam, too...

that "the US has stumbed into a bog. It will be mired there for a long time." But did we listen? Noooooooo...