[Xelion]

You've got to give what little credit there is for that democracy in Iraq though. As for Russia there just going down hill...

Could you elaborate that arguement?

I wouldn't say Russia overall is going down hill a lot, probably the same as some countries dealing with similar problems, but I would think they're standing still politically. Improvements to situations within their country are extremely slow to initiate. In the past such occurrences as rebel attacks have been major headlines on the news, and even though the situation in Iraq looks grim I would hope that what news I do watch shows the little amount of progress they are trying to achieve with their current issues. Anyway reading your post Flaser tells me you know more than me about Politics.

[Harbinger of DOOM]

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/07/15/russia.g8/index.html

Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected a suggestion from U.S. President George W. Bush that his country should emulate democracy in Iraq.

During a joint news conference Saturday in St. Petersburg, Bush said he raised concerns about democracy in Russia during a frank discussion with the Russian leader.

"I talked about my desire to promote institutional change in parts of the world, like Iraq where there's a free press and free religion, and I told him that a lot of people in our country would hope that Russia would do the same," Bush said.

To that, Putin replied, "We certainly would not want to have the same kind of democracy that they have in Iraq, quite honestly."

Bwahaha! Check out the video here. I guess it's a sign of trouble when reporters start laughing at your head of state during a press conference.

ZING!!!!!

[WMCoolmon]

Wasn't Iraq the country that the guy was sentenced to death for not believing in Islam? Or am I getting my Middle East Countries mixed again...

[Mefustae]

If I recall correctly, that was blown way out of proportion.

[aldo_14]

Wasn't Iraq the country that the guy was sentenced to death for not believing in Islam? Or am I getting my Middle East Countries mixed again...

I believe it was the similarly, er, 'liberated' Afghanistan.  From what I remember, it was for converting from Islam, the Afghan parliament eventually granted some sort of highly unpopular clemency, and Italy offered the poor sod asylum and thus pulled his arse from the fire.