# What do you think of the Chechens?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-chechens/122072>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [August 2, 2002, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-chechens/122072 "2002-08-02T20:09:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Daoloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Daoloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daoloth)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-chechens/122072/41 "2002-10-30T12:49:19Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Jojo \*  
> \*\*As regards your (secretly held) suspicion that the Russian government knows more than it’s letting on about the apartment bombings, I’ve heard some reports tonight that Russian authorities have arrested 30 people in connection with the Moscow siege…
> 
> …including some police officers and advisors to the Putin administration!!!
> 
> Curiouser and curiouser (as Alice noted). \*\*

I think the “Chechens weren’t behind the bombings” hypothesis stims mainly from the fact that Russian authorities were doing “bomb defusion practice” at the apartments in question shortly before the explosion. They were never concrete on what they were doing, and it was rather mysterious.

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**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-chechens/122072/42 "2002-10-30T13:30:18Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by TwistofFate \*  
> \*\*  
> The major problem is who would take over in Chechnya if the Russians pull out. \*\*

How about one of the several hundred thousand Chechens who is not a terrorist? They were there before, and they’re there now. I bet we could even find some with government/administrative experience.

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**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\
**Post date:** [October 30, 2002, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-the-chechens/122072/43 "2002-10-30T14:19:35Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Eva Luna \*  
> \*\*Yep, that’s mine.
> 
> And I swore I’d leave out the conspiracy theories, but I have to mention one: I haven’t seen any hard evidence from a belieable source either way about the Moscow apartment bombings, but I’ve heard some quite credible rumors that the FSB set up the whole thing to make the Chechens look bad and give the Russian armed forces a good excuse to bomb the crap out of them again.
> 
> If anyone has the scoop on that, I’d love to hear it. \*\*

From memory and recent TV news reports. Around the time od the apartment bombings a small group of people, members of the Russian secret service were apprehended planting a bomb in an apartment building. Initial reports said the bomb was made of hexagen (?), supposedly a powerful explosive but the official explanation that emerged later was that it was just sugar and the spies (no one contests they were this AFAIK) were “testing” security.

Feel free to join in my cynical chorus of “Yea, right.” at this point.

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