Guerrillas In Grozny

It should have been over by now. this time last year, Russian generals talked confidently of the final stage of their operations in Chechnya—mopping up the scattered bands of guerrillas who had fled to the hills to escape the Russian military onslaught. Vladimir Putin, in his most famous sound bite ever, promised in gangster language to "rub out" the separatist commanders, even if they were on "the john." But something has gone badly wrong. The guerrillas are back in the cities and towns. The Kremlin has turned against the civilian it put in charge of Chechnya,...

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