Ok..now I am mad!!

[Mr 5 0]

Unit:

I read your last post with interest and found agreement with your analysis of China and Japan but I see Russia (and Putin) a bit differently.

Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister of Russia, is more than simply 'a soldier'. Yes, he was in the KGB for 16 years but he's also an attorney, was a university rector and held many administrative positions before becoming acting PM and then the elected PM in 1999. He's no peasant.

Putin has established a working relationship with President Bush, has reformed the tax code in Russia (they have a 13% flat tax which is wildly successful in bringing in revenue) and his economic policies have seen Russia's economic growth to rise over 8% last year, the biggest rise in decades. Oil sales have a lot to do with this, of course, but not all.

Communism is dead in Russia and Putin is a new breed of Russian leader. In short, this is not your father's Russia.

I believe Russia - and Putin - can be an excellent ally of the United States, especially if war breaks out in the mid-east. as I expect it will by the end of this year.

Of course Russians are xenophobic; they've lived in a closed society for 70 years and were told that Russia invented everything and the U.S. is an enemy. This will take time to recede, but it will.

Vladimir Putin is no JFK, but he's no fool either and he can and will bring Russia into the 21st century. I like him, as much as I've ever liked a Russian leader and as I mentioned before, things have changed in Russia.