I fear that Putin will use this as an excuse to impose more authoritarian rule in Russia,rather than see it as a reason to do what he should do-deal with the terrorists in the only relevant way,on their own terms.
And France will be there like a snake in the grass,whispering in his ear that he can't "undermine his independence" by showing any solidarity with the US and the coalition.
I hope he's firmer than the Czars were when France did the same thing.
Putin was against the Iraq war for selfish reasons, Iraq owed Russia a lot of money. Some of the money they will get back, other than that it's a moot point. Putin now realized that Bush is going to be re-elected. The events of the last two weeks have scared the crap out of him, he is going to use this as an opportunity to solidify his power.
Putin is also really pissed off at the EU now
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040905/asp/foreign/story_3720034.asp
That's certainly suggested by his references to the glory days of the Soviet Union in his speech. You will recall how the FBI used 9/11 as an excuse, not to chase terrorists (at which they were never much use, anyway), but to get new "antiterrorist" surveillance powers, which so far have only been used against run-of-the-mill criminals.
Ask a policeman for policy advice and he will hand you a road map to a police state. Note that Putin was, ere he became a political player, a career Chekist.
Finally, police state tactics have to be recognized as ineffective against terrorists. Chechen terrorists even operated successfully inside the old Soviet Union. The Police State only suppresses legitimate dissent, not terrorism.
d.o.l.
Criminal Number 18F