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In the first weeks of his administration, President Bush and his new foreign policy team signaled their intention to maintain a tough line on Russia and Chechnya in particular.

That's one of the most depressing posts in this whole thread (#180.) While President Bush was chastising Russia for Chechnya, why was he adopting a "most intimate bed partners" relationship with Saudi Arabia - which has been *funding* the Chechnya terrorists' activities? How can someone be so *wrong* about the enemy?

Saudi Arabia - which has been *funding* the Chechnya terrorists' activities?

Members of the Royality , support the Wahhabi's but I believe the major members are backing away . not totally clear as yet, but the police are fighting them...

It's hard to feel too much sympathy for Putin. He was helping Saddam with weapons and military advisors before the second Gulf War. Saddam's oil voucher bribes probably reached more Russians than Frenchman, not too mention the fun and games at the UN.

Putin really needs to stop wasting time playing old Cold War games with regimes like Iran, Syria and North Korea (and stop playing Russian roulette with his economy by stealing domestic oil companies), and finally commit himself to the US side and help smash the Islamofascists (and their socialist armorers in North Korea). His country is way too vulnerable in the fight against Islam. Every US success simply encourages the Islamobutchers to attack Russia instead as the weak link. He may have to use nukes soon. The Russian military just doesn't have the resources to effectively smash the rebels conventionally. Just compare the two Russian campaigns to take Grozny and the US campaign to take Baghdad (or even the recent Fallujah and Najaf operations).

But for the sake of his people, he needs to make a committment.