Sarkozy Chides Putin On Russian Tough Talk: "You Want To End Up Like Bush?"

Nicolas Sarkozy saved the President of Georgia from being hanged "by the balls" -- a threat made last summer by Vladimir Putin, according to an account that emerged yesterday from the Elysee Palace.

The Russian Prime Minister had revealed his plans for disposing of Mr Saakashvili when Mr Sarkozy was in Moscow in August to broker a ceasefire in Georgia.

Jean-David Levitte, Mr Sarkozy's chief diplomatic adviser, reported the exchange in a news magazine before an EU-Russia summit today. The meeting will be chaired by the French leader and President Medvedev.

With Russian tanks only 30 miles from Tbilisi on August 12, Mr Sarkozy told Mr Putin that the world would not accept the overthrow of Georgia's Government. According to Mr Levitte, the Russian seemed unconcerned by international reaction. "I am going to hang Saakashvili by the balls," Mr Putin declared.

Mr Sarkozy thought he had misheard. "Hang him?" -- he asked. "Why not?" Mr Putin replied. "The Americans hanged Saddam Hussein."

Mr Sarkozy, using the familiar tu, tried to reason with him: "Yes but do you want to end up like [President] Bush?" Mr Putin was briefly lost for words, then said: "Ah -- you have scored a point there."

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Comments

[MichiganJFrog]

This is just a word test.

tro//s

[arod72]

Not to back up or defend W in any way whatsoever, but I do think Cheney gets off scot free in these conversations. I see him as the master manipulator behind the scenes, with W working as his puppet. However, he'll be the one who goes down in history as the worst president ever.

[Moshe]

Well said Mr. Sarkozy.

[deepfreezevideo]

Oh crap now I have to thank Bush for something LOL

[lisakaz2]

Hey Nick: Ouch (but good one).

[jeffp26]

The new ultimate put-down:

"You remind me of Bush." "You're as dumb as Bush." Etc.

[instagladiator]

"If Bushes could fly"

"Do your homework or do you want to grow up to be a Bush?"

"How many Bushes does it take to start a wildfire?"

"Which came first, a Bush or a lie?"

"Stay away from that Bush! It's contagious!"

You know, we can drag this on and on and on with no end in sight.....­.

[marleysghost]

Below the belt! But Putin has brains and Bush doesn't so he can reverse course without tripping over his tongue.

[rktboy]

oooof! That hurt.

[bitterindependent]

worst u.s. president in history...­..no hyperbole.­...

[UnknownSoldier]

agreed

[instagladiator]

I think there was a little horse leniment mixed in with daddy's sperm?

[strifeknot]

Ronald Wilson Reagan is still worse. Without Reagan, there could never have been a path for W. W. has simply continued what Reagan started.

[Cloball]

True. Wonder why the pundits and journalists never lay it out that way.

The 80's were awful under Reagan and then Bush 41. I think they had something to prove after Nixon and Ford? Pat would know!

Clinton had to clean up after their trickle down economics even back then. Obama will have to do the same.

[Papago12]

How funny, I know we should support him in this time of need but he abandoned the country for his buddies, he had no idea they were using him...I think he actually thought he was doing a bangup job.

[Kayttt2000]

So Mr.France stopped Putin from filing International War Crimes against the leader of Georgia...

Putin wasn't going to hold his own court like Bush did,,,he was going to take it to the REAL International court....

So why did Mr.France stop Putin?
It sounds like Mr France is willing to nail Bush,,,
So who's he protecting,,,
Oh My,,,could it be Israel,,,who trained,fu­nded,,enco­urgaged the leader of Georgia to attack,,,O­s...

Do we have a Zionist Jew protecting Zionist Jew Israel,,,yes we do....

[20thcenturykid]

Gee, whizz! Is there anything surprising about that?
The only surprising thing is that Putin cannot be hung by the balls for his atrocities against the Chechen people and his Soviet-era crimes because he doesn't have any...:-))­)

[Hawka]

You want to talk about International War Crimes? How's Chechnya these days? Or the now radioactive London?

[BushBites]

LOL!

Bush is now a worldwide laughing stock!

[JMBrodie]

Yup yup.

[mr jellyneck]

Only now?

[instagladiator]

Couldn't happen to a more deserving individual or at a more appropriate time!

[apingebrig]

When world leaders are about to commit a major blunder, they are told to "not pull a Bush." Classic. That's what Bush has done to the US Presidency.

[disgusted48]

the bush presidency - the new standard for failure.

[bostongreen]

bush and the republicans only have themselves to blame for the rise of putin. they sent in their economic advisors like jeffrey sachs (surprise surprise) after the wall fell and they plundered russia with their free market ideology.

[WasteNJ]

"hang him by the balls"
Spoken like a true Ex-KGB man. Anybody think Putin hasn't actually already done that to some poor slob, at some point in his past? Russian intelligence and Special Ops are Hardcore. Search YouTube for "Spetznaz training", if you want to see some brutality. You should see what they can do with a little shovel.

[netzwerg]

KGB (Komitet Gossudarstwennoy Besopasnosti), literally translated, means "Commitee for Homeland Security".

[Shrinath]

Spetnaz is their special forces. But the truly brutal punishments and torture methods were from the KGB and its allies in East Germany. And yes. Putin himself has the balls to do that. He is not someone who is afraid to get his hands dirty.

[JJ30]

Search YouTube for "Spetznaz training", if you want to see some brutality. You should see what they can do with a little shovel.


No thank you. I'll pass.