I had been thinking about diving into this one, but Dwayne aired basically my thoughts. I agree with your assessment Chris. Western media just can’t go beyond seeing criminal elements who claim to speak for the Chechen people as something akin to the Palestinian example. Over 99% of Chechens are open to a political settlement with the Kremlin. The tragedy of course is that the Kremlin focuses on the one percent who isn’t interested. The one percent gives the security forces a reason to continue the conflict there as a business venture. That is just fine with the terrorists there as well – they are in business too.
Politics, ideology, and religion are not the most pressing problems in Chechnya – the problem is how to finally destroy the “business model” that is at the heart of the Chechen crisis that benefits few at the expense of the many. This is Putin’s greatest challenge.
As for the FT piece – I sure would have liked to have been cited, I believe I was paraphrased…….
Dwayne Monroe <idoru345 at yahoo.com> wrote:Doug (to Chris Doss):
You're opposed to political dialogue, and think the Bush-like approach of killing 'em all is the right one?
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