They're doing that now. Unfortunately, Russian SOF are way below their American counterparts in skill and equipment. (Russian SOF were the lead players in Moscow and Beslan.)
Engage the assistance of any moderates in Chechnya, isolate the terrorists as much as possible.
This sounds like John Kerry. Sorry, dude, gotta call 'em the way I see 'em. There never were any moderates in Chechnya during this war; the Chechens had themselves a nice round of Stalinist purges before the Russians ever showed up in the mid-1990s.
Engage the assistance of the US and the coalition of the willing, stop attacks on Chechen civilians.
Colonel Chivington's advice is awfully hard to argue with sometimes.
Concentrate on the enemy...just like the US is doing throughout the world.
Unfortunately, it seems that the definition of "enemy," based on Western press reports from the first attempt to take Grozny in 1995, includes any child over the age of 8. (The Taman Guards Division attempted a "Thunder Run" into Grozny, similar to the one the US 3rd Infantry Division made into Baghdad, with a lot of restraint about targeting--and got the crap kicked out of them. Little kids would guard stairwells with Makarov pistols and Molotov cocktails while teenagers and up fired AK-47s and RPGs.)
Has it struck you that the worst example of American brutality that anyone's come up with three years into the war, is making prisoners wear women's undies on their heads?
Yeah. We're a LOT more squeamish than the Russians are. About the only thing holding back the Russian military is an effective PR campaign in the West. It's being run by the usual suspects in the US, such as CAIR and the Washington Report on Mideastern Affairs--both funded by Wahabbist money.
However, one more Beslan event, and Putin's liable to just start throwing nukes around. And I, for one...would not give a damn if he did.
You're starting to show your lack of knowledge on this issue...Russia is using mercenaries.
"This sounds like John Kerry."
It does?
Was it Kerry who assembled and armed the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan?
Is it Kerry arming and training a new Iraqi Army under a moderate Iraqi government?
Really Pooh, you're falling apart here...I described the Bush plan in the ME, according to the Bush NSS!
"the Chechens had themselves a nice round of Stalinist purges before the Russians ever showed up in the mid-1990s."
Huh?
You want to try that one again?
"Unfortunately, it seems that the definition of "enemy," based on Western press reports from the first attempt to take Grozny in 1995, includes any child over the age of 8."
I thought you had a problem with people who defined children as enemy combatants?
"About the only thing holding back the Russian military is an effective PR campaign in the West."
The Russian military has killed 25% of the total population of Chechnya, some reports state the number of Chechen children killed at 40,000, another 25% of the population has been displaced, and roughly 70% of the land is now useless.
You claim that Russia has been holding back?
Granted...the Kremlin will dispute these numbers.
I guess we all should treat anything the Kremlin says as Gospel in these days of moral relativism, and embrace communist apologists calling themselves conservatives as they stand side by side with Al Gore on this issue.
Ronald Reagan must be turning over in his grave.