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Good point. But this guy surely didn't meet the same level of interest you've described. If he was over here and his parents (or his father, at least) had traveled back to Russia for extended periods of time, then he's hardly someone who would warrant much interest or scrutiny from the Russian government as a "dissident" of some kind.

I'll tell what I think happened here: The U.S. government has been quietly supporting those Chechen separatists for years despite their violent history, so they probably didn't pay any mind to the Russians at all.

Good point. But this guy surely didn't meet the same level of interest you've described. If he was over here and his parents (or his father, at least) had traveled back to Russia for extended periods of time, then he's hardly someone who would warrant much interest or scrutiny from the Russian government as a "dissident" of some kind. I'll tell what I think happened here: The U.S. government has been quietly supporting those Chechen separatists for years despite their violent history, so they probably didn't pay any mind to the Russians at all.

I don't think there's any organized effort by Chechens to attack the US, not only because we're not their enemy, but because we're covertly their allies (although not friends). I think this was a couple of screw-ups doing what they do when they have a Travis Bickle moment. They claim to have been big shots back in Russia, They certainly weren't big shots stateside. This attack was their way of venting. Don't get me wrong - there are probably tens of thousands of Muslims or more who think the way these mooks did about Uncle Sam's relationship with Islam. The difference is that most of those Muslims shrug it off the way normal people shrug off the injustice of the day.

Which brings up another question: Why was the father able to go back to Russia for extended visits?

The family came here seeking political asylum - yet they were able to return to Russia repeatedly? Looks like they lied.