"Cheney is extreme hypocrite. HE bashed Russia then next day he goes to Kazakhstan to praise Nazarbaev who sits in president chair 4th term continuously. Does Nazarbaev "democracy" is better then russian? Russia doesn't have the president who rules for 15 years and no stop."
I think the jury is still out on Putin as to how long he intends to stay in office. The article made no mention of the deterioration in US-Russian relations that have occurred since Putin came to power:
1. Putin's role in blocking UN action on Iraq
2. Russia's role in cleaning Iraq of WMDs prior to the allied invasion
3. Russian sale of sophisticated naval weaponry to China
4. Efforts to overthrow democratic movements in the Ukraine and elsewhere.
5. Kazakhstan was an ally in the Iraq invasion and is also strategically important.
Cheney was promoting US national interests which is the purpose of foreign policy. You call Cheney a clown. But he has liberated more people and helped foster democracy in more countries than Putin ever will.
5. Kazakhstan was an ally in the Iraq invasion and is also strategically important. ==
So it wasn't about no "democracy" buyt about american interests. It is what I thought in first place.