Putin Blasts Libyan Air Strikes, Compares Them To An "Oil Crusade"

03-21-2011 • ZeroHedge.com

From Reuters: Putin, in the first major remarks from a Russian leader since a coalition of Western countries began air strikes in Libya, said that Muammar Gaddafi's government fell short of democracy but added that did not justify military intervention. "The resolution is defective and flawed," Putin told workers at a Russian ballistic missile factory. "It allows everything. It resembles medieval calls for crusades." Putin said that interference in other countries' internal affairs has become a trend in U.S. foreign policy and that the events in Libya indicated that Russia should strengthen its own defence capabilities. Russia, a veto-wielding permanent Security Council member, abstained from the vote on Thursday in which the council authorised a no-fly zone over Libya and "all necessary measures" to protect civilians against Gaddafi's forces. Well, there's talk, and there's action. If Putin believes it is time to switch those at the top of global hegemony, nothing prevents him from finally announcing, in collaboration with China and Germany of course, that the new currency backed by commodities and precious metals, as everyone by now knows is in the making, is finally being floated. That should promptly resolve all concerns of crusades and interference.