The Chechens think it's a civil war, the Russians regard it as rebellion.

The Chechens are Muslim, tend to regard this as a religious issue, the ROW regards them as civil-political matters.

So, the Muslims to themselves are martyrs, to non-Muslims they are terrorists.

(Christians also have a long history of gloriously dying for their religion, too. It's not limited to Muslims.)

The interface of religious and civil-political issues is about the bloodiest in history. Witness Rome and Jews, for instance.

Sad. And, as in Moscow, it's ALWAYS the innocent who suffer.

At a time like this, for a decent human being, it has to be very difficult to be a political leader in Putin's shoes. For some it wouldn't matter, they would just care about how they looked in the process. At times it ain't easy being God - in effect, God. Maybe lower-case god. ("Emperor Jones", by Eugene O'Neill)

(Good reason to keep Christianity out of the government of the US, way, way out. Not find ways to sneak it in, as is done now. And it is Christianity. For all the fancy words, we all know how far a person would get if he/she dragged in a Muslim prayer rug into their office.)

Past time to pray for the innocent in Moscow. And Chechnya. But mostly Moscow. Such as those prayers might be.

Arf