Well, your first mistake would be to expect rational responses from the "kill 'em all" crowd.
Your second mistake flows from your first: there is no need to address the underlying problem through diplomacy, if one side of the equation is entirely dead.
I will note that the centuries of ugly history between Chechens and Russians will make a diplomatic solution very difficult, if not impossible. Of course, the alternative (war) has already been tried, and is currently being tried, without notable success.... So diplomacy certainly can't make it any worse than it is.
"I will note that the centuries of ugly history between Chechens and Russians will make a diplomatic solution very difficult, if not impossible. Of course, the alternative (war) has already been tried, and is currently being tried, without notable success.... So diplomacy certainly can't make it any worse than it is."
That's how I see it, too. We make the mistake, sometimes, of assuming that the Russian government is all that different from the Soviet government that came before it. But, when it comes to these regions, like Chechnya, they're pretty much the same as they were. The Chechens hate the Russians and have for a long, long time, whether they are Soviets or an erstwhile democracy.
So, the Russians are in a guerilla war with ghosts. Like all guerilla wars, winning is almost impossible. So, they'll probably end up abandoning the effort, as they did in Afghanistan.
Seems to me that the Bush administration is taking the right approach here. We sure as heck aren't sending troops to Russia, so we might as well negotiate.