"Putin is trying to detract attention from his own actions in Chechnya and attach himself to our WOT...the actions of the Russians in Chechnya do not excuse the events in Beslan, but they contributed to it."
EXACTLY RIGHT!
He is trying to shift the blame to "terrorists" rather then facing the problem in his own country.
"The verified links between Chechen terrorists and al-Qaeda are few and tenuous. Intelligence sources doubt that the “Islambouli Brigades” that claimed responsibility for the two aircraft bombings last month actually did the deed. The Russians claim that ten of the hostage-takers in Beslan may have been Arabs, but no proof has been offered besides indistinct pictures and some sounds that just might be Arabic. All the signs are that the mastermind was Shamil Basayev, a Chechen who has organised a series of terrorist attacks, including on a hospital in Budyennovsk in 1995 and a theatre in Moscow in 2002."