^^^^^ CB: Extending your reasoning, we shouldn't take Ba'athists or Islamcist fighters in Iraq as "bad people" , as some on this list are taking them to be, because they are in an era and place where both are taken for granted ? How about guerrillas in Chechyna, who are taken for granted there ? --
Actually upon reflection I've changed my mind and agree with Carroll and John.
Guerillas aren't taken for "granted" in Chechnya, except in the way in which gang-bangas are taken for granted in Southeast LA. What support they have, now that I think of it, is probably a lot like the mother of the LA gang-banga who refuses to turn him in to the cops. They were an absolute disaster when they were in power, and nobody wants them back. There are between 1,000 and 2,000 rebels (ethno-separatists, Islamists, criminal groups and "avengers" in all their various permutations) in Chechnya, of which about 10% are foreigners. The population of Chechnya is officially about one million, but is probably actually closer to 700,000. You do the math. There are probably more skinheads in the United States in terms of percentage of the population that there are active rebels in Chechnya.
That lack of support, BTW, and the lack of money, is probably why they engage in high-profile stunts like Beslan, by the way. They are desperately trying to expand the war, because they have no support base at home. The whole point of Beslan seems to have been to drag the Ingush into the conflict -- which has failed, because the Ingush don't want war. Nor do the Ossetians.
I posted an interview with Ruslan Khasbulatov here on this a while ago. (Chechen former speaker of the Supreme Soviet, arch-enemy of both Dudaev and Yeltsin. BTW Dudaev advised Yeltsin to shell the Duma in 1993 -- back then they were allies.)
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