Flowers and Fashion

There is a lot of activity at the moment in Chechnya, Afganistan etc. Constant reports keep appearing of significant losses on coalition and Russian side as well as taliban and Chechen rebels expanding their control to further territories. It is unclear where it will go from here. Hmm. May be i should start writing about flowers and fashion.

Basaev at it again?

There is currently a new uprise in rebel activity in Chechnya and Dagestan at the moment which is disturbing. A number of questions arise: 1) is it genuine and rebels headed still by Shamil Basaev-Bin Laden of north Caucasus- as suggested are fighting back after a number of FSB conducted operations or fabricated and aimed to justify Russian activity in the region and create a feeling of instability (always a great political tool as we all know); 2) what will follow (presumably more bloodshed and not a joyous tea party for all); 3) uhh...personal.
Grey, grim, gruesome...

Independent Investigation Report - Dubrovka

The report of the independent investigation into Dubrovka theatre siege conducted by a group of survivors and victims' relatives is to be unveiled on Monday. The first question that arises is how much and what kind of information could they have dug up and what were their sources. It is unlikely any of the secret services would have willingly shared 'the truth' with them, so the report is likely to be another set of 'why', 'who' and 'how come' type questions as oppose to constructive account of who orchestrated the tragedy and what were their goals. Which is a shame as people who, i am sure, still feel nauseous imagening the last hours of their loved one's life-the hunger, the smell of urine, the numbness in the limbs, the gas, the gunfire, the blackout-deserve the truth. In this case, however, the truth will prove to be too much.