[KirkandBurke]

The Chechen problem is a difficult one. Our spooks were(are) involved, using the Chechens to destabilize the Russians. Both the Russians and the Chechens have very bloody hands in this fight. They have traded tit-for-tat brutality on a scale that would sicken most Americans. Russians have systematically beaten, tortured and (homosexually) raped Chechen prisoners. Chechens have likewise murdered most of the Russians they capture. I've seen film footage of a Chechen holding a young Russian soldier's head down with his boot, then stabbing and slitting his throat on camera. He was easily a POW, but that's not how this game is being played. Putin's FSB has been indicated in the bombing of buildings that were blamed on Chechen rebels. (Putin's Reichstag event) It has has not been a pretty war and both sides have much to answer for. And then there's the role played by "our people." Heroin, big money, the CIA and subversive political meddling .

[Medium Rare]

What a tangled web we weave...you know the rest of the quote.

There are two interests involved here, keeping the Russian oil pipeline that traverses Chechnya open and the same with the flow of narcotics.

As I previously posted, according to CFR sources, there appears to be a quid pro quo between the U.S. and Russia. The U.S. was to look the other way as Russia solidifies its position in Chechnya and Russia would not object to U.S. domination of Afghanistan and a portion of Caspian Sea oil.

I believe that agreement is still in effect.