"Am I therefore become your enemy,because I TELL YOU THE TRUTH...?"
(Galatians 4:16)

Putin threatens to aim rockets at ex-allies over missile shield

MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin on Thursday repeated his threat to aim Russian rockets at former Soviet satellite states if U.S. missile defense facilities are deployed there.Speaking about U.S. plans for interceptors in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic, Putin said, "Our experts consider that this system threatens our national security, and if it appears, we will be obligated to adequately react to this."He said Russia's action would be to "retarget our missiles toward a system that we aren't creating.""We are warning people ahead of time: if you take this step, then we will make this step," Putin said at his annual news conference in the Kremlin.Putin also said Russian missiles could be aimed at Ukraine-a former Soviet republic whose pro-Western leadership is pursuing NATO membership-if it were to be host to a missile-defense facility. Putin had issued the same warning in a meeting with the Ukrainian president, Viktor Yushchenko, this week.He suggested that the United States and the leaders of Poland and the Czech Republic were going ahead with plans for the missile defense system without asking for public approval, which he called undemocratic.Turning to another sore point in Moscow's relations with the West, Putin lashed out at the United States and other NATO countries over their refusal to ratify an amended version of the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty. Putin suspended Russian participation in the pact in December.He said the restrictions Russia faced under the treaty were made unacceptable by NATO's eastward expansion after the 1991 Soviet collapse, likening them to a situation in which U.S. troop movements from California to Texas would be subject to Russian approval."We will no longer fulfill any colonial conditions," Putin said.Putin, who is stepping down this year, also said Thursday that he had no reservations about becoming prime minister under the next Russian president, saying the No. 2 post would give him sufficient power.While the president sets the main course for the country, the prime minister has control over the budget, sets economic policy and is responsible for national defense, he said."The highest executive power in the country is the government of the Russian Federation," Putin said.He is expected to yield the presidency in May to Dmitry Medvedev, a longtime, loyal associate who is all but certain to win the presidential election next month. Putin has said he is amenable to being prime minister under Medvedev."I should not cry but be happy that I have the opportunity to work in another capacity, and in another capacity to serve my country,"Putin said.He said he had full trust in Medvedev, a 42-year-old first deputy prime minister, describing him as a person to whom it was "not embarrassing or frightening" to hand over power.Putin said he had never considered following the advice of those in his inner circle who urged him not to step down at the end of his second term as required by the Russian Constitution."I was never tempted to stay for a third term. Never," he said. "From my first day of work as president I decided for myself that I would never violate the existing Constitution."Although Putin has clearly come to enjoy his position and the prominent role it allows him to play in global politics, he said he had not become "addicted" to power during his presidency."Some are addicted to cigarettes, some, God forbid, to drugs, and some become addicted to money. They say that the worst addiction is to power. I have never felt that," he said. "I have never been addicted to anything."
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/14/europe/putin.php
As in the days of Noah....