Boston Bombings: Putin Slams Americans "They Do Not Understand And They Talk Gibberish"

The death penalty issue has long been debated in society. You know, sometimes when you hear about such cases, it seems logical to reach for a pen and sign some documents aimed at the return of the death penalty, or to ask State Duma deputies to do it. But you have to talk with criminology experts. They believe that the toughening of punishment in itself does not lead to a decrease in crime. I understand people’s outrage and their desire to see criminals punished. The question is what is the most effective measure. Why do you say that such criminals as this will go free eventually? One type of punishment available to us is life imprisonment. I assure you, prisons are no resorts. I think that ordinary Americans have absolutely nothing to do with it, they do not understand what is happening. I want to appeal to Russian and American citizens, and to all the people who follow these international events, and to say: Russia is itself a victim of international terrorism, one of the earliest victims. I have always felt outraged when our Western partners, as well as your colleagues from the Western media, referred to our terrorists who committed brutal, bloody, appalling crimes on the territory of our country, as “insurgents”. They were hardly ever referred to as terrorists. They provided assistance to them, information support, financial and political support – sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly, but it always accompanied their activities on the territory of the Russian Federation. While we always said that they shouldn’t make empty declarations that terrorism is a common threat, but make real efforts and cooperate with each other more closely. But now these two criminals have provided the best possible proof that we were right. One can endlessly speculate on the tragedy of the Chechen people during their deportation from Chechnya by the Stalin’s regime. But were Chechens the only victims of repression? The first and the biggest victim was the Russian nation, which suffered the most as a result of repression. This is our common history. You can speculate all you want but does it have to do with the United States? What did they do to deserve this? It's not about nationality or religion, as we have told them a thousand times – what is at issue here is extremism. They moved to the United States and they were granted the American citizenship. The younger brother was an American citizen. Some people there are saying now (not the US Administration but they are politicians) that the surviving terrorist suspect should be declared a prisoner of war. They have completely lost their marbles. A prisoner of which war? Has the civil war between the North and the South started again? What complete nonsense. They are talking gibberish. I am not saying this to accuse anyone of anything. I just want to ensure that this tragedy has prompted us to boost cooperation in addressing common threats, one of which – the most important and dangerous one – is terrorism. If we really join efforts we will not have any more such attacks and we will not bear such losses.