The connection has yet to be spotted.
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.
I don't agree. Again, Chechens trained in Afghanistan, Arabs and Pakistanis have been found fighting in Chechnya, Chechens are funded by Saudi money.
As I say, if you are looking for an Al Qaeda org chart, you aren't going to find one, so it depends on how you define Al Qaeda. In my view its Al Qaeda where Wahabs and Saudi funding get into the mix. Beyond that, Al Qaeda is a term of convenience for non-state actors. So you have the traditional Chechen banditry with maybe some Turkish support up until the nineties, and then at some point, you have the injection of Wahab volunteers and Saudi money. At that point we have our "Al Qaeda" connection.
Turks helping Chechens kill Russian troops, we look the other way. None of our business. Arabs helping Chechens kill Russian civilians, we have a different game. Our interest intersects with Russia's interest in shutting down the Wahab and Saudi connection, and on a human level, getting rid of the people who target civilians. At the point it goes back to being a traditional insurgency, or bandit enterprise, we have no further interest.
Ditto that
"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.
"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."
Well, they did by allowing four years of independence which led to the influx of Saudi Wahabis, Sharia laws, slave trade and attacks on neighboring provinces. Now as the disease advanced during this four years, they need to be resilient and persistent for many years.
Fortunately Chechnya is 40 times smaller than Iraq, 5 times smaller than West Bank and 3 times smaller than Northern Ireland. There is no need for extreme measures as those used by Americans toward warlike Indian tribes. Patience will be enough - majority of Chechens live in Russian cities and they seem to accept civilized life style, the militant minority can be helped to emigrate to Western Europe to enjoy privileged status, those who remain can keep their tribal culture intact so long as they keep it to themselves.