I'm not confusing anything, Teribus. I was simply explaining to Troll three different ways in which the Chechens could be could considered a nation. "My" definition of nation is the one you'll find in your dictionary, if you own one. It's not a "narrow" definition. In fact, it's considerably broader in scope than yours, existing beyond political borders.

And it has little or nothing to do with oil. Russia has no real use for Chechnya. It's a poor, mountainous land filled with people who always have, and always will, despise them. But if they let them go, they fear that indedpendence-minded minorities in Tatarstan, Daghestan, Khalmg Tangch, Sakha Republic, etc., will be emboldened to secede as well. They've already lost huge swaths of their old empire, and don't intend to lose any more of their current one.

Oh, and the Russian did a lovely job of "freeing" the hostages. Many apparently suffocated when the Russian police gassed the theater.

---Lepus Rex