Putin

[Aug 2008] I'm NOT on the Putin Bandwagon by Henry Makow

[Media 3, 2004] Secret at the heart of Putin's rise to power

http://www.wiolawapress.com/one.htm

"The men behind this were definitely FSB employees," he told the Telegraph. "Whether they got their orders from the very top, or were a criminal grouping inside the organisation, is impossible to say.....The 1999 bombings proved to be Mr Putin's political making. He positioned himself as a strongman who would crush the Chechen rebels and restore order to the ailing country. Riding a wave of nationalist fervour, in eight months he went from being a virtual political unknown to winning the presidency by an easy margin. Secret at the heart of Putin's rise to power

He was very sweet. I'll be honest, I felt an urge to squeeze him like a kitten and that led to the gesture that I made. There was nothing behind it really.”— Vladimir Putin, the Russian president explaining why he felt compelled to kiss the bare stomach of a young boy at the Kremlin.