Reply #42: Putin is using failed tactics in Chechnya

[louis c]

Chechnya has been under Soviet, and now Russian domination for decades.

Putin has 100,000 heavily armed troops occupying a region the size of Ohio.

Russia has been cited year after year for human rights violations by every international watch group.

Certainly this does not excuse the current terrorist methods by the Chechen's and their allies, but at least it can help us understand it.

Thousands of young men have been hauled away in Chechnya by Russian troops, never to be seen or heard from again. This has spawned a new terrorist threat in Russia from the women who have lost their husbands, companions, or brothers, the Black Widows. In addition, any dissent what so ever is brutally suppressed. The controlled Russian Media gives out little information, and even this small amount is no more than propaganda.

Putin's "Iron Fist" tactics are an abject failure. Unlike Bush, he knows just where his enemy is, and still can't stop them. As the repression gets more and more brutal, the tactics of the Chechen's become more and more desperate.

Putin has pushed the Chechnya separatists, who are predominately Muslim, into the arms of the Muslim extremists. As a result, Russia is further from a solution then ever, and violence will escalate to the point of continued horrific tragedies on both sides.