Were the bombs Put...in

Vladimir Putin, may have come to power through a smooth democratic process. But his re-election was a botched-up concealed confiscation of power. This former KGB stalwart prided himself to be personally linked to Chechen Problem by promising to adopt a no-compromise stand.

Putin thinks there is no war in Chechnya. Putin also thinks that whatever problem there is in Chechnya, is a local backyard issue to be solved by the bully of the neighborhood. Never has terrorism looked so legitimate. The means, Beslan Massacre, may be gruesome ... but what about Grozny? And all that because of a criss-cross of pipelines.

Were the Russians readdy? Not at all. Watch the the pride of Communist Russia's dying elite forces - Spetsnaz - are they still elite? Elite soldiers don't dress like that. Some were in trainers and others in over-sized boxer shorts. The best dressed - as seen on TV - did not have the boots to match. And they think they want to fight against a people who plan out of hatred and kill to intimidate rather than eliminate? The Vietcong had proven that there are times when military might cannot crush the socio-political will to survive. Afghans re-inforced that opinion and the Iraqi insurgence against all odds is proving to be a better headache than the "elite" Fedayeen.

Until Putin starts thinking that Chechens have the same right to self-determination as did Russia from former USSR, there shall be no relent in Chechen terror. The fight has narrowed down to an attempt to prove to Putin that he alone does not determine the course of Chechen history. The Chechens have a part in it. When I look back and see an Alexandr Lebed negotiating for peace in Chechnya, and Putin swearing to do the reverse, I start having doubts about how a seasoned paratrooper of the fibre of Lebed, died in a no-combat zone helicopter crash. If Putin is prepared to lock-up the Yukos Boss for personal political gain - despite potentially adverse effects on world market - I dont see what could have stopped him from eliminating Lebed.

Since Putin wants to take the Chechen issue as a personal affair, he should also take the blame as a personal failure ... and leave. How I wish Russia was a democracy?