People who get all their knowledge of world affairs from Newsweek do tend to forget that Putin learned his craft from Yuri Andrapov. But the folks who follow such things knew who Putin was long before he had much of a public profile and back when power struggles usually ended in a cellar in the Lubyanka.

I am somewhat comforted that he seemed to come from the cynical rather than ideological wing of the KGB and that in the case of Islamic fundamentalism we have somewhat common interests. If 911 had happened in Moscow Afghanistan would be glowing in the dark.




>>It's not for me to comment on the Russian President's sartorial accomplishments (lol).
>>
>>Putin is simply a nationalist. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Russia suddenly found itself kicked out of superpower status. The Soviet system had whithered and they had to accept foreign funds to keep the government functioning. This had to hurt someone like Putin and his actions are understandable from that perspective.
>>
>>Putin wants Russia to be seen as a great country again. Hence the enormous expansion of the military government and the crackdown on dissidents. It also explains the love-hate relationship with the US.
>>
>>But what is chilling is Putin's response to national tragedies. When the Kursk sank he was slow to respond and acted like he was annoyed with the whole deal. The Beslan tragedy where Chechnyans massacred a bunch of schoolchildren drew the same lukewarm reaction. This guy seems to have no heart for his own people.
>>
>>
>Isn't that a typical response for the head of, or one of the commanders, of the KGB?