Darwinian realism is less a life style option and more an ugly reality for those who have survived the past year in Chechnya. Russia's brutal military campaign in Chechnya was lightly touched upon in the mainstream media. This may have been due to the actual complicity of Western leaders from Tony Blair to Madeleine Albright.

A year ago, a series of bomb blasts in Moscow served as the trigger for the Russian assault on Chechnya. By blaming Chechen 'terrorists' for the bomb blasts, Putin got all the amo he needed to push for an all out attack on Chechnya. Three weeks ago another bomb ripped through a Moscow subway stop in Moscow. Will this one too serve as the trigger for more war in Russia's recalcitrant breakaway republic? Chechens were blamed immediately. This is troubling in light of the fact that the perpetrators of last year's atrocities were never proven to be Chechen. Will there be more convenient bomblasts and more war?

As they say on TV, stay tuned.

Meanwhile Global takes a retrospective look at the last year in Chechnya through the reporting of The Guardian in Great Britain, which followed the developments carefully.

Tonight (August 24, 2000) on the NBC evening news George W. Bush made another of his bloopers. He referred to terrorists and their threat to "hold America hostile". He meant to say "to hold America hostage". But maybe he had it right. America and that other superpower, wanning though it is, might not be held hostage so much as they are hostile.

An interesting sidenote...a story in the Guardian says that the Kursk may have been sunk by a torpedo. On August 25, 2000 the Chechen website, Kavakz, states that the destruction of the submarine may have been the handiwork of two Chechens on board.