Russia is still Russia

They may be more democratic, capitalist, and corrupt than they used to be, but they're still Russians, and don't you forget it. If the Chechen theatre hold-up had happened in the U.S., it could have crippled us. Not so for Russia, who can off 115 civilians now and then when they really need to. It's not "nice", but it's much more effective, and renders a lot of the terrorist playbook obsolete. By gassing the theatre and then going in and starting a minor bloodbath, the Russians quenched any Chechen hopes of blackmailing Russia into negotiations. Quite honestly, this only makes me love Putin more. He's not a dyed-in-the-wool democrat, but he's certainly the strong leader that Russia needs. If he can leave office peacefully and democratically, it'll be a big victory for stability in the world's #2 nuclear power: and that counts for a lot in my book!