When he retired on New Year’s Eve 1999, for example, he asked forgiveness for launching the war in Chechnya. Putin, by contrast, seems incapable of recognizing and admitting his mistakes, and persists in a policy long after its failure is visible to the world.
当然，没有人鼓吹政府能够不犯错误，甚至是根本性的错误，而且时局越是动荡就越是如此。叶利钦也犯过错误，但是他勇于承认。举例来讲，叶利钦在1999年新年前夜退休时，就曾请求人民原谅他发动了车臣战争。而普京却似乎恰恰相反，他不但没有勇气承认自己的错误，而且还在政策失败已经成为人所共知的事实以后，继续推行根本无效的政策。