Charred buildings and streets littered with bloody corpses. Gunfire and exploding shells. Civilian hostages huddled together in fear. These sights and sounds have become such standard fare on Russia's TV news shows in the six months since Moscow invaded the breakaway region of Chechnya that most Russians have grown complacent, believing the horrors of the Chechen war to be far removed from their daily lives. Few, in fact, paid serious attention to repeated threats by rebel leader Jokhar Dudayev to spread the conflict beyond Chechnya's borders. Then last week the Chechens finally made good on that vengeful promise. Suddenly the horrible...
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