Bush and Putin

At first I was a little surprised to see such a strong rapport between Russia's Vladimir Putin and our own George W. Bush. But, after reading today's story in the Washington Post discussing Putin's almost Bush like eloquence in responding to some queries about Chechnya, I now see why the two men get along so well. Here is the beauty quote in response to a reporter from the French newspaper Le Monde who was questioning Putins' troops use of heavy weaponry against civilians in the war in Chechnya, a predominantly Muslim Russian republic:

"If you want to become an Islamic radical and have yourself circumcised, I invite you to come to Moscow," Putin said. "I would recommend that he who does the surgery does it so you'll have nothing growing back afterward," he added. Circumcision is a tenet of Islam for all males. Because of poor interpretation, Putin's remarks were not immediately understood by either the 450 journalists present at the news conference Monday or by senior EU officials. The Russian president brought his own interpreters, but even the native Russian speakers were unable to keep pace with Putin's rapid-fire delivery."

Does Putin want to castrate only Muslims who are circumcised, or does he wish castration for all who are circumcised? Moreover, is castration his answer in fighting the Russian war on terror?

posted by sajit @ 4:51 PM