*Any pity I ever felt for the Chechens is gone now*
You and me both--I agree 100%.
There was never any reason to feel pity for the Chechnyan militants. Clinton's people had their own obscure reasons for wanting to go to war in the Balkans to help Muslims and to support the Chechnyan Muslims. Didn't understand it then, don't understand it now. The only good thing is that after 9/11, America understands what the Serbs and the Russians have always known -- being nice to aggressive Muslims is not the answer...