Where does Russia go from here?
From Brian Todd
CNN
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Once, they were a band of rebels who fought with passion and precision; who took on a fight for independence against a clumsy giant, inflicted severe military casualties and fought their way to the negotiating table.
But since then, a hard-liner won the presidency on promises to get tough with Chechen rebels.
Marginalized politically, they grew more audacious -- some say desperate -- moving from rebels in war to terrorists on the attack.
Now, we're left with scenes of dead children, wailing mothers and a hunkered-down leader accused of misleading his people after militants held more than 1,000 children, parents and teachers hostage for more than two days.
"This is a loss for Mr. Putin. He has been for two years saying the war in Chechnya is over and that the Russian people are safer with him," says Svante Cornell, who studies ethnic conflicts and wars at Johns Hopkins University.
We're also left with questions: Where does it go from here? And, does anyone have a strategy for ending this?
The militants who took the school in southern Russia included Chechens, Ingush and Arabs.
Some experts believe this was an attempt to force Russia back to negotiations.
"Because they get to choose the time and place and because they're able to use terrorist and insurgent tactics, they can continually wear you down politically," explains CNN military intelligence analyst Ken Robinson.
And what is Vladimir Putin's strategy? Cornell says Putin and the Russian government have spent considerable time trying to eliminate Chechen moderates from the political dialogue.
"He has spent less time trying to eliminate or get rid of the Islamic terrorists because they enable him to show Chechnya as a part of the global war on terror," says Cornell.
In the immediate aftermath of this attack, President Putin has promised to beef up the borders and increase security. But as the country moves forward, one thing experts say is certain -- this will never return to a traditional war.
