When You're Right, You're Right...Please Pass the Vodka, Vladimir

November, 2002

The Russian president, once a high-ranking KGB official, spoke at great length about the dangers of Islamic fundamentalism and the war in Chechnya. He said Chechen Muslims want a Caliphate, or Muslim state, "on Russian soil".  Islamic "radicals have much more ambitious goals. They talk about setting up a worldwide Caliphate and the need to kill Americans and their allies," Mr Putin said.  "They talk about the need to kill all ... non-Muslims, or ‘crusaders’, as they put it. If you are a Christian, you are in danger.  "If you decided to abandon your faith and become an atheist, you also are to be liquidated according to their concept. You are in danger if you decide to become a Muslim. It is not going to save you anyway because they believe traditional Islam is hostile to their goals."  

September, 2012 - "Pakistan's "Day of Love for the Prophet" turned into a deadly day of gunfire, tear gas and arson. 

But it is Pakistan that has seen the most sustained violence, driven by a deep well of anti-American sentiment and a strong cadre of hard-line Islamists who benefit from stoking anger at the U.S. At 49 people — including the U.S. ambassador to Libya — have died in violence linked to the film around the world."

Feel the love....

"I only want to warn you that you should not create any loopholes for these people. Anything, even the smallest trifle that's to their advantage, is perceived by them as a weakness and will be used by them against those who demonstrate this weakness." - yikes!

They are still fighting there.  Of course it might have something to do with oil.

"Chechnya, a Russian republic, is a remote, oil-rich area bordering Georgia, whose population is predominantly Muslim. Historically, its residents resisted Russian control. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the territory has been the scene of two wars that caused thousands of deaths and at times embarrassed Russia's military."