What is George's soulmate up to?

Russia warned the United States after the September 11, 2001 attacks that Iraq's Saddam Hussein planned to hit targets on U.S. soil, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday.

Putin's remarks looked certain to help President Bush, but officials at the State Department expressed bafflement, saying they knew of no such information from Russia.

  Reuters article

Actually, I passed over this story a couple times already, because I couldn't quite get a grasp on it. What's Putin's purpose in making this statement at this time? And just exactly what does it imply anyway? That there really was reason to take on Saddam, it would seem, but Russia was against the invasion.

What else? That the Russian intelligence agencies share information with the U.S. What exactly were the reports? And if we had them, why weren't they used in justifying the invasion? That's the big question, I think. Surely in their desperation to use any evidence, including faked and questionable, they would have used Russian intel reports. Did somebody bury them? Are heads at the State Department gonna role? More intel heads?

State Department spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters he did not know anything about the information that Putin said Russia passed on. No such information was communicated from Russia through the State Department, he said.

"Everybody's scratching their heads," said one State Department official, who asked not to be named.

But the Kremlin leader's comments seemed certain to bolster Bush, whose campaign for re-election in November is under pressure from the Iraq crisis.

So maybe he's getting some concession from Bush? I don't know. I'm thinking this might look pretty thin coming at this late in the game. It seems like a really pathetic attempt in the bolstering business. But, who knows.

....and hey, do what you want....you will anyway.


Update 10:20 pm: That damned Billmon! He's reading my blog and stealing.

So, how much do you think this cost?

Putin Says Russia Warned U.S. on Saddam

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in comments sure to help President Bush, declared Friday that Russia knew Iraq's Saddam Hussein had planned terror attacks on U.S. soil and had warned Washington.

And in what coin was Bush's soul mate paid?

Wait a minute...his post was published at 2:44 pm. I don't know where he is geographically, but I think it might be the east coast, in which case, he's posted a couple hours before me, so unless we were time warping (which could happen!), he didn't read my post first. And, if he's in the central time zone, then he posted before me, as well. But if he's on the west coast, then, he had two hours to get it read before posting. But, if he's in the mountain zone, we were posting at the same time! Coincidence? Or psychic phenomenon?

Do you suppose Billmon has ever even heard of YWA?