Some media is really jumping to conclusions and speculations. It is so childish. The comments quoted here are outrageous. How can the guy commenting on this event know, with so much authority, that it is meant to be against Prime Minister Putin? Does he have a crystal ball, or is speculating trying himself to do a little shake-and-bake, while fishing in the dark? As if Chechnya is the problem any more. The increase in activity of such lunatics simply is linked to their improved budgets. So, wherever the money comes from, they will be willing and able to comply. As if anybody believes the story of a soldier that "converted" to Islam, and now is the terrorist! How hollow! This is a story of a guy caught with his hand in a cookie jar, and being forced by someone to do their bidding. In short, sounds like a blackmail to me. People do not convert to any religion in order to become criminals. This is usually a very private, and solemn decision, not a propaganda stunt. I hope that in Russia, all people of all faiths and nations stick together, and condemn this COWARDLY act.

My condolences to those who lost loved ones. I hope those perpetrated these horrible acts are caught and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Sarah: The US has only 5% of the world's population, but my general impression is that most foreign media report on the US's own domestic issues disproportionately relative to those of any other country. The US media in turn does an inadequate job of reporting the domestic situations in foreign countries, and as a result it seems as though everyone else is looking at the US through a magnifying glass while the US is basically very geographically ignorant. The USSR has an extremely poor image in the West, and the Russian defensive attitude therefore towards its 20th history, along with controversial moves such as banning NGOs, along with polls showing so many Russians don't care about democracy, and high profile assassinations like Litvenenko's and Chechnyan reporters, all make Russia look suspicious to West, especially since during the Bush years Russia typically surfaced in the news, in the US at least, only when it did something like the above or else was bickering with the US about our nosiness regarding Russia's internal affairs. Since Obama took office Russia's image has, I think, been improving because Medvedev's "Go Russia" article and speech were largely exactly the sort of things the West wanted to hear out of Russia, and cooperation on things like START and Iran are making it so stories about Russia are less about its supposed problems, or at least when they are it is about how Russia is working on solving them, and are more about how Russia is making a positive contribution to the world. Americans and Russians are, I am sure, still very suspicious of each other, but relations and opinions are improving. I think in particular that as Russia shapes up it will be harder for American conservatives to demonize it as they have been prone to.