Putin: Boston Bombers 'Proved Our Position'

Vladimir Putin has made his first public comments on the Boston bombings, and wasted no time in identifying what he sees as a double standard: "I was always appalled when our Western partners and the Western media called the terrorist who did bloody crimes in our country 'insurgents,' and almost never 'terrorists,'" said Putin in his annual Q&A session today, according to RT.

The Atlantic Wire notes that Putin has previously pushed the West to back up Russia's attempts to crack down on revolts on its own soil; he today reasserted his belief that Russia should not be criticized for cracking down harshly on its own extremists. "Those two [the Tsarnaevs] have proved our position all too well," he said. Another can't-miss line came during a discussion about the previous debate on whether to classify Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as an "enemy combatant" or prisoner of war: "Are they out of their mind?" Putin asked. "What kind of POW is he? Do they fight the Civil War between the North and South again?" (More Vladimir Putin stories.)