Yeah, but where was Safire when Moslem terrorists were threatening Serbia and Russia? Why, taking sides with the Moslem terrorists! So, he loses the moral high ground.
Serbia's case was lost when it attacked Christian Slovenia and Croatia first before it ripped apart Bosnia and Kosovo. In fact, it left the 90% Muslim Kosovo for last. Trying to rewrite the past as an anti-Al Qaeda crusade is moronic and hypocritical.
Memories of the USSR were too fresh for Russia to gain much sympathy over Chechnya, especially during the first war. Not too mention the fact that Russia is the one country still capable of nuking the US. An adversarial relationship of a half century doesn't change overnight.