Well let the truth be known if Russia tells America to leave Iran alone and the US doesn't.It will get nasty.

Putin has pulled out his old KGB playbook. When there is unrest at home start attacking the west.. rhetorically that is..

The fact is Russians are getting fed up with Czar Putin and he won't be around much longer..

actually Russia is quite apprehensive of Iran,on account of the Iranian Proxies in the Russian Muslim Caucasus!
Doubt Putin would shed a Tear if those troublesome Imams in the Iran would go Poof!

Yeah Putin isn't well liked,but i do like the idea of another country besides the US puting Iran in check.In a way how can i put it..."it's about time."Yeah it's a clash of world power egos but if it keeps peace then so be it.It's better than war.And yes Putin still has Red in his heart.

At times, Russian President Vladimir Putin's enormous popularity seems to catch even him by surprise.

When Putin took office two years ago, many in the West saw him as little more than an ex-KGB thug. Today, despite a 70 percent approval rating, he remains something of a puzzle, a man of contrasts.

http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=130325&page=1#.T0ecSYdmLpg

If it takes one bully to use the tatic "i dare you" to keep another bully from invading and starting another war.I'm all for it.I don't know about everyone else but it's getting kind of old that the US troops have become disposable.

Could you have found an article a little more recent?

It says PRESIDENT Putin..

This is from December 2011... A little more recent than your mid 2000's article..

A poll conducted on Dec 10-11 and released on Friday showed 51 percent of Russians approved of how he has done his job, down from 61 percent in a Nov 28-29 survey and 68 percent in January, state pollster VTsIOM said.

The poll highlighted discontent and fatigue with the 59-year-old leader as he prepares for a presidential election in March which he is widely expected to win, but not as easily as seemed likely a month ago and perhaps not in the first round.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/8960649/Vladimir-Putins-popularity-drops.html/

It isn't the Votes that count,but who is counting the Votes!

J.Stalin

Putin knows that,and makes sure they won't even get into a Ballot-Box!

Putin = criminal....why would anyone care what he thinks?....or worse, put any stock in it....

If Iran did start something stupid and Russia got involved then i'm sure Iran would be Putin its place ... Putin, put in? ...

as they say,Old KGB-Operatives don't die,they just become Russian Presidents,by Hook or by Crook!

watch how quick the Russian Caucasus-Region would be up in flames,if Putin does something to displease the Imams in Tehran!

That was a little rushed I was on my way out for may Daily Stroll through Town and Country.

Putin is Good For Russia.

yep,every bit as good as Lenin,Stalin,Beria and the rest of the Bolshevik-Gang!

Tell that to the Russians...

Russia's Voters Have Spoken: Anybody But Putin


According to exit polls, Vladimir Putin’s United Russia lost its majority in the Russian parliament in Sunday’s voting. United Russia fell from a two third majority to under fifty percent. Prior to the election, Putin muzzled independent election monitors; so the actual vote was much worse for his former majority party.

To understand the magnitude of this electoral drubbing, consider a U.S. election in which Republican candidates are banned, and the Democrats vie against the Green, Libertarian, and the Freedom Socialist Parties, and THEY FAIL TO WIN A MAJORITY. This was the case in Russia on Sunday. The majority of ballots were not for someone but against the Putin regime.

In his more than decade rule, Putin has eviscerated any and all political opposition. Popular liberal figures, such as Boris Nemtsov (a former deputy prime minister), Mikhail Kasyanov (a former prime minister), and Gary Kasparov have been threatened, intimidated, and jailed. Anyone not toeing Putin’s party lines is denied coverage in the Putin-dominated media. Putin has rid himself of major political figures carried over from the communist era, such as Yury Luzhkov, ousted mayor of Moscow.

Governors and mayors are now appointed by Putin. No political opponents can rise from their ranks. The Russian public can name only two national political figures other than Putin and Medvedev (communist Zyuganov and nationalist Zhirinovsky).

Only the shopworn Communists, the clownish Zhirinovsky nationalists, and the Kremlin-allied Just Cause were allowed on the ballot. And these three fringe parties got more votes combined than the Putin machine! This is too big for even a Putin regime to cover up.

We knew this political earthquake was coming. The surprise is that Putin let us see it. A tsunami is hard to conceal.

In the March regional and municipal elections, Putin’s United Russia was shellacked. Despite the absence of any organized opposition, United Russia failed to achieve majorities in seven of the twelve regional elections. In Kirov and Kaliningrad, United Russia got less than forty percent. Few noticed this election result because of the Fukoshima nuclear disaster.

Also Putin’s approval ratings were probing new lows on the eve of Sunday’s election. In September of 2008, 88 percent approved and ten percent disapproved of his performance. By August of this year, 68 percent approved and 30 percent disapproved of Putin. In the space of a three short years, Putin’s previously-Teflon approval ratings fell by twenty percentage points and his negatives tripled. President Obama might welcome such ratings, but in Russia they are disastrous.

Putin’s regime fared even worse in terms of public opinion: On the eve of the election, more people disapproved of his government than approved. At least their ratings are better than our Congress.

Despite Sunday’s electoral drubbing, the political outcome is already sealed. United Russia will rule parliament and will rubber stamp Putin’s initiatives. In the absence of a rule of law, parliament really does not matter anyway. Putin will be elected president in March for a six year term. He will allow only token opposition on the ballot.

But Putin has lost his claim to legitimacy. His high approval ratings were his trump card, no matter how outrageous his suppression of political rivals or of investigative reporters. The Russian people do not like the decade of Putin’s corruption and economic mismanagement, but there is nothing they can do, other than cast protest votes. No doubt, they were annoyed when Putin “announced” that he would be the next president. Russia is a democracy, they had been told.

Putin’s claim that he restored order after the chaotic Yeltsin years is wearing thin. Only 22 percent of Russians think the Putin government can improve the situation of the country. Now a majority see little difference in corruption levels between the Putin and Yeltsin years. Putin, like Obama, must blame all woes on previous regimes, but that argument does not work after more than a decade of rule.

I have dozens of Russian friends that are my age, educated and have spent a lot of time outside of Russia.

There is not one of them that want Putin to stay in power.

They don't want another Cold War type of stand off with the West.

The next Russian revolution has started and there is nothing Putin can do to stop it..

After World War II America's need to counter Soviet power delivered a tidal wave of innovation.

Maybe a New Cold War will Deliver the same for Russia?

The cold war days are over..

Just like Putin's days are numbered..

I couldnt help but laugh at these anti Putin comments and the absurd thought process that goes into something like that. Its as if americans have amnesia about our own misadventures. One doesnt have to major in history to do an honest comparison.

the United States, officially a secular nation but predominantly Christian, attacked El Salvador (1980), Libya (1981), Sinai (1982), Lebanon (1982 1983), Egypt (1983), Grenada (1983), Honduras (1983), Chad (1983), Persian Gulf (1984), Libya (1986) , Bolivia (1986), Iran (1987), Persian Gulf (1987), Kuwait (1987), Iran (1988), Honduras (1988), Panama (1988), Libya (1989), Panama (1989), Colombia, Bolivia, and Peru (1989), Philippines (1989), Panama (1989-1990), Liberia (1990), Saudi Arabia (1990), Iraq (1991), Zaire (1991), Sierra Leone (1992), Somalia (1992), Bosnia-Herzegovina (1993 to present), Macedonia (1993), Haiti (1994), Macedonia (1994), Bosnia (1995), Liberia (1996), Central African Republic (1996), Albania (1997), Congo/Gabon (1997), Sierra Leon (1997), Cambodia (1997), Iraq (1998), Guinea/Bissau (1998), Kenya/Tanzania (1998 to 1999), Afghanistan/Sudan (1998), Liberia (1998), East Timor (1999), Serbia (1999), Sierra Leon (2000), Yemen (2000), East Timor (2000), Afghanistan (2001 to present), Yemen (2002), Philippines (2002) , Cote d'Ivoire (2002), Iraq (2003 to present), Liberia (2003), Georgia/Djibouti (2003), Haiti (2004), Georgia/Djibouti/Kenya/Ethiopia/Yemen/Eritrea War on Terror (2004), Pakistan drone attacks (2004 to present), Somalia (2007), South Ossetia/Georgia (2008), Syria (2008), Yemen (2009), Haiti (2010), etc. etc. etc. etc.

So, who is the danger to world peace?
http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/dangertopeace.php

Hasany other country on this planet been involved in so much bloodshed? How can we even condem anyone at all? Hypocracy on a massive scale for sure. How much longre will the rest of the world put up with uber Umerika?