[FormerLib]

As if the Russians give a hoot about precedent.

If you mean the Russians don't care about not being able to do what they want if there isn't precedent, you are correct.

If you don't realize that the West's idiotic actions in Kosovo have given carte blanche to folks who want to do what the Russians have done, you are a public skool graduate!

[1rudeboy]

You're not very bright, are you? Putin (whether he is Chechnya Putin, or Georgia Putin) doesn't need carte blanche. The only people who care whether it was given to him are Kremlin apologists, and Serb communists pining for the Motherland.