Here, unfortunately, I agree -- there will be no happy ending for anybody.
All along, the biggest problem for the Russians has been their inability/unwillingness to formulate a clear objective. Why did they launch this massive campaign?
Was it really to "wipe out the terrorists"? The terrorists are a relatively small group, and surely there must have been better (and cheaper) ways of going after them.
Was it to exact vengeance (as distinct from retribution), to punish the whole people for the crimes of a few? Problem with that approach, of course, is that it is likely to spawn even more "terrorists" -- that is, people who want to wreak vengeance on YOU, and so on and on, in an endless, downward-spiralling cycle.
Was it really just planned as a "short victorious war," designed to deflect public attention from money scandals, etc., etc.? If so, they have got to be stupider than I personally ever thought they were.
And so forth. I suspect that the motives of each & all of the parties involved have been, and will continue to be, mixed, and that there will be no clear direction from the very top (that is, from Yeltsin). What a mess!
And look out below! |
