The ironic stares of Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush at the monument entitled To The Struggle Against World Terrorism, at New York Harbor.

(The following excerpts are from the new book by Yuri Felshtinsky and Vladimir Pribilovsky, "The Corporation", a volume that lays bare the history of the FSB (KGB) right up to the present day. Not only is False Flag terror commonplace for the FSB, it seems certain now, if there was any doubt before, that FSB agents killed Felshtinsky's writing partner, Alexander Litvinenko. A very detailed book, recommended reading for anyone seeking to understand how "intelligence agencies" go about their business. -rep.)

Chechnya had become the weakest link in Russia's multinational mosaic, but the KGB raised no objections when Dzhokhar Dudayev came to power there because they regarded him as one of their own. General Dudayev, a member of the CPSU since 1968, was transferred from Estonia to his hometown of Grozny as if deliberately in order to oppose the local Communists, to be elected president of the Chechen Republic, and to proclaim the independence of Chechnya (Ichkeria) in November 1991 - as if to show the Russian political elite what kind of disintegration was in store for Russia under Yeltsin's liberal regime. It was probably no accident that another Chechen who was close to Yeltsin, Ruslan Khasbulatov, would also be responsible for inflicting fatal damage on his regime. A former functionary of the Komsomol's Central Committee and a Communist Party member since 1966, Khasbulatov had become speaker of the Russian parliament in September 1991. It was precisely this Khasbulatov-led parliament that Yeltsin would forcibly dissolve - using tanks - in 1993.

By 1994, the political leadership of Russia was already aware that it could not afford to grant independence to Chechnya. Allowing sovereign status for Chechnya would make the disintegration of Russia a genuine possibility. But could they afford to start a civil war in the North Caucasus? The "party of war," which relied on the military and law enforcement ministries, believed they could afford it as long as the public was prepared for it, and it would be easy enough to influence public opinion if the Chechens were seen to resort to terror tactics in their struggle for independence. All that was needed was to arrange terrorist attacks in Moscow and leave a trail leading back to Chechnya.