1. I don't think that in a measured consideration anyone here thinks of terrorism as the equivalent of serial killing where the act of killing is the source of pleasure. Rather, that terrorism is a sort of tip of the iceberg thing, tied up or linked to some situation whose _subjective_ contours, at least, are broadly similar. And that unless that situation is somehow resolved, the terrorism itself can't be curbed -- curbed, not eliminated completely at one fell swoop, as there will remain elements who believe/think that they can revive their fortunes through resort to terrorism.
2. I seriously doubt that there can be a situation where 90% of the population are not in sympathy with the terrorists, but instead favour some negotiated solution, that can yield such a high level of terrorist activity. As a comparison, one might think back over the decades of N Ireland and the decline in terrorist activity.
3. Is Chechnya all that different from, say, N Ireland? Is N Ireland all that different from Palestine? If there's a desire for Chechen autonomy or independence, and in view of the separation of Georgia, Ukraine, the -stans, etc., might not Chechens ask why not them? In recent times, was there any especial harshness visited upon the Georgians, the -stans, etc.? Contrariwise, was there any greater "virtue" to the Ukrainian case?
4. There's no necessity to be a neo-con or an Ignatief-style liberal to fall into a broadly similar mode of thought. After all, there were any number of leftists happy to support the Kosovo war, and at least some saw it not as a purely contingent measure for lack of any actually available alternatives, but as in principle right. There is a broad culture at work that infects the left, too -- not dissimilar to the manner in which the culture of colonialism infected and continue to infect the post-colonial regimes, cultures and leftists.
5. As an irrelevant matter, where I sit, standard lefty positions died quite a while ago. Equally, in the wake of 9-11, I see any number of lefties, once heroes of the Euro-American left, who have adopted some pretty far-out positions.
5a. Incidentally, if the quote from Putin is serious: What is he really saying, and Why the faith in Putin?
kj khoo