Putin: US war on Iraq ‘pointless’
Calls for withdrawal date

“...Iraq — a small country that can hardly defend itself and which possesses huge oil reserves. And we see what’s going on there. They’ve learned to shoot there but they are not managing to bring order.

“One can wipe off a political map some tyrannical regime ... but it’s absolutely pointless to fight with a people,” he said. “Russia, thank God, isn’t Iraq. It has enough strength and power to defend itself and its interests, both on its territory and in other parts of the world.”