I don't see the simple message "we are going to kill them" in the body of that speech, do you?
My conclusion is taht Putin won't really be doing much about this, there isn't going to be any kind of large scale military action.
maybe I am missing something.
"My conclusion is taht Putin won't really be doing much about this, there isn't going to be any kind of large scale military action. "I think you are missing a careful analysis of Putin's options. What are they?
- A lot of the terrorists were "Chechen. He's not going to announce to the world that he is going to get tougher with them. He already has territorial control. He doesn't need to influence world opinion to do what he needs to do.
- He did note an international element to the terrorists. And Al Quaeda has been named as well But again here Putin's options are limited.
- the US already controls Afghanistan, you can't invade there.
- The US already controls Iraq, you can't invade there.
- He could go after Syria or Iran, but he has had too close of relations with them.
- He could go after Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt or Morrocco, but I doubt unless he builds a strong case linking one of their governments to the terrorism, he would have domestic support for doing so.
Putin's problem is that unlike Bush who already had Osama and Saddam in his cross-hairs, Putin doesn't have a target, except the Chechen Islamists that he already is at war with.
The investigation might turn up a target. Syria and Iran do need to be dealt with. And Egypt's culture needs to be changed to. Whether Putin want's to tackle one of those or support the U.S. and let us do it, remainst to be seen.