NEW YORK ¨C The involvement of two ethnic Chechens in the Boston Marathon bombing last month came as a brutal reminder of the wars that ravaged the Russian republic more than a decade ago. Less understood is that they aren¡¯t over.
Vladimir Putin said when he first ran for president in 2000 that his ¡°historic mission¡± was to resolve the situation in the North Caucasus. To do so, he oversaw a second war in Chechnya, already devastated by Russia¡¯s failed attempt to subdue the republic in 1994-1996.
Instead of solving the North Caucasus issue, however, Putin created a monster. To end the fighting, he cut a deal with Chechnya¡¯s rebel Kadyrov clan: In exchange for loyalty to the Kremlin, they received power and reconstruction aid.
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