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 Putin was responding to one of dozens of questions from the public in an annual televised Q&A session
-- his sixth since taking office in 2000. The event broadcast live on state-controlled TV channels and radio stations consisted largely of people from around the country quizzing Putin mainly on bread-and-butter issues, like pensions, public workers' salaries and school funding.
But a mechanic from the Siberian city of Novosibirsk asked Putin about comments he said were made some years ago by former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who suggested that Siberia had too many natural resources to belong to one country.
"I know that some politicians play with such ideas in their heads. This, in my view, is the sort of political erotica that might satisfy a person but hardly leads to a positive result," Putin said.
"The best example of that are the events in 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," he said.
"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."
Putin said that the U.S. campaign was aimed at seizing control of Iraq's oil wealth, and said a concrete date must be set for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
"I believe one of the goals is to establish control of the country's oil reserves," he said.
Unless a date for pulling out is set, Putin said, "the Iraqi leadership, feeling (safe) under the reliable American umbrella, will not hurry to develop its own armed and law enforcement forces."
In recent months, Putin has increasingly confronted U.S. foreign policy, deepening the chill between Washington and Moscow. Among other things, he has questioned U.S. plans for missile defense in Europe and the U.S. push for sanctions against Iran for its nuclear programs.
On Thursday Putin discussed his recent trip to Iran, which is under increasing Western pressure and scrutiny over its nuclear program.
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 Threats against Iran, he said, are "harmful for international relations because dialogue with states ... is always more promising."
The Russian leader opened the session with a deft display of arcane statistics, reeling off a string of numbers to show the improvement in Russia's economy during his seven years in office. Much of the economic growth has been due to high world oil prices. He also said the country's birth rate was the highest it has been in 16 years and the death rate the lowest since 1999.
A sampling of questions listed on a Web site set up by the broadcasters before the Q&A session ranged from concerns about salaries for public sector workers to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi to environmental worries.
Putin, who is widely popular among Russians for the stability and relative prosperity during his regime, has sought to use phone-ins along with tightly choreographed, lavish television coverage to project the image of a leader responding directly to voters' concerns.
He said Thursday that Russia will have a different president next year, reaffirming his plans to step aside but leaving unclear what exact role he might have.
With just two months remaining before crucial parliamentary elections -- and five before presidential elections
-- speculation has mounted about Putin's plans once his second, consecutive term ends in March.
"In 2008, in the Kremlin there will be a different person," Putin said. He also said he expected no radical policy changes from his successor, adding that the next president should "keep the stable course of our nation and continuity in realizing the plans that have been devised in recent years."
[Associated Press; by Mike Eckel]
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