Russian President Vladimir Putin has reportedly suggested that November's terrorist attacksin Paris might never have happenedif the US had "listened" to officialswho opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq.Putin made the suggestionduring an interview with German newspaperBild. His comments about the US and Iraq appear in an English translation on the Kremlin's website, but not in an English translation provided by Bild.Here's the exchange as recorded on the Kremlin's site (emphasis added):Question: There is atheory saying that there are two Mr. Putins: thefirst one was young pre-2007 Mr. Putin who showed solidarity with theUnited States andwho was friends with Mr Schroeder, andthen, after 2007, another Mr. Putin came. Back in2000 you said, We should have no confrontations inEurope, we should do everything toovercome them. Andnow we have found ourselves insuch confrontation.May Iask you astraightforward question' When we are going tohave thefirst Mr. Putin back'Putin: Ihave never changed. First, Istill feel young today. Iwas andIcontinue tobe Mr Schroeders friend. Nothing has changed.Myattitude tosuch issues asthefight against terrorism has not changed either. It is true, onSeptember11, [2001,] Iwas thefirst tocall President Bush andexpress mysolidarity. Indeed, we stood ready todo everything tocombat terrorism together. Not so long ago, after theterrorist attacks inParis, Icalled andthen met thePresident ofFrance.If anyone had listened to [former German Chancellor] GerhardSchrder, to [former French President] Jacques Chirac, tome, perhaps there would have been none oftherecent terrorist attacks inParis, asthere would have been no upsurge ofterrorism inIraq, Libya, orother countries intheMiddle East.Chirac andSchrderbothopposed invading Iraq, as did Putin. In 2007, Chirac made statements similar to the ones Putin reportedly made in the Bild interviewthat invading Iraq and toppling the regime of President Saddam Hussein destabilized the Middle East and allowed terrorism to spread.Putin went on to state that Russia and the West are "faced with common threats" and called for countries to combine efforts to combat these threats, according to the transcript posted on the Kremlin's site.Russia claims to be fighting terrorists in Syria, where it started a bombing campaign late last year. But military analysts say Putin's primary goal is propping up the embattled regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Moderate rebels, as well as terrorists affiliated with AlQaeda and ISIS (also known as the Islamic State, ISIL, and Daesh), are fighting the Assad regime for control of territory in Syria.And thoughRussia made a show of supporting France in the wake of the ISIS-linked attacks on Paris, which left 130 people dead, experts have questioned whether the sort of cooperation Russia is calling for in the fight against terrorism is viable."Through Iran and Syria, its proxies, Russia is a principal purveyor of arms to Hamas and Hezbollah,"Stephen Blank, a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council, wrote in November forthe Atlantic Council."Indeed, two days after the attacks in Paris, Russia reaffirmed its earlier position that Hamas and Hezbollah are not terrorists."Hamas and Hezbollah are both US-designated terrorist organizations.Blank continued: "In other words, Russia uses terrorism as a legitimate weapon with which to advance its interests. When it comes to Middle Eastern terrorists, it reserves for itself the right to determine who is 'good' or 'bad.'"SEE ALSO:PUTIN: The deterioration of Russia's relationship with the West is the result of many 'mistakes'Join the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: These are the biggest risks facing the world in 2016
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