Do you want to end up like Bush?

Nicolas Sarkozy saved the President of Georgia from being hanged √¢‚Ǩ≈ìby the balls√¢‚Ǩ¬ù √¢‚Ǩ‚Äù a threat made last summer by Vladimir Putin, according to an account that emerged yesterday from the √É‚Ä∞lysée Palace.

The Russian seemed unconcerned by international reaction. “I am going to hang Saakashvili by the balls,” Mr Putin declared.

Mr Sarkozy thought he had misheard. “Hang him?” √¢‚Ǩ‚Äù he asked.

“Why not?” Mr Putin replied. “The Americans hanged Saddam Hussein.”

Mr Sarkozy, using the familiar tu, tried to reason with him: “Yes but do you want to end up like [President] Bush?”

Mr Putin was briefly lost for words, then said: “Ah — you have scored a point there.”

Glenn Greenwald: A positive aspect of the Bush legacy. via fefe.