would stop referring to the heavily armed Chechen gunmen (and women) involved in this horrible crime in Moscow as "rebels" or "hostage-takers". The truth is that they're terrorists and murderers, pure and simple.

None of the past historical injustices Chechens may have suffered at the hands of Czarist Russia, the Soviet Union, or post-1990 Russia could possibly justify such blatantly terroristic acts as this.

While it's true that Russian military operations against Chechen terrorists have been heavy handed at times, Russia is absolutely correct and has every right to put down, by any means necessary, the terrorist-led, Al Queda connected, so-called "independence" movement in Chechnya.

The brief period of quasi-independance Chechnya experienced during Boris Yeltsin's drunken stupor of a presidency was a complete disaster, with Chechnya plunged into violent chaos, massive organized crime, and a breeding ground and sanctuary for international terrorists, including Al Queda. It was so bad and so dangerous that no one in their right mind would support the notion of Chechen independance.

It's quite enlightening that a great number of Chechens have in the past few years fled their regional homeland of Chechnya go seek refuge elsewhere IN RUSSIA, not in other neighboring states.