adoukaev

There is no history of anti-american sentiment in Chechnya. Chechens have no grievances against Americans and that is why people are shocked. One common sentiment is that if those young men have done that then they should be punished.

Hello, As proof, my organization RFE/RL has just tweeted about this event. https://twitter.com/RFERL/status/326707798840844288

Chechnya is a tiny territory in the south of Russia with a population of slightly over 1 million people. It's been an epicenter of a protracted vicious conflict over the past 19 years. It has seen destruction, mass killings of its population, insurgency and terrorism. What happened in the United States of America is shocking and most of the Chechens I know have condemned this atrocity. We are waiting for a full investigation of this attack and we extend our sympathies to those who suffered in this terrorist bombing.

Neither of those two men nor their family ever lived in Chechnya, but I cannot rule out that the Chechen tragedy may have affected their world view. I have to emphasize again that if there was some anger or frustration which they experienced, it was totally misplaced, and I do hope a careful investigation will shed some light on this.

Yes, he has recently adopted and anti-american stance. It is not exactly clear to me why he has done that. One possible explanation is that there are rumors he was included in the so-called Magnitsky list, meaning he would be denied entry into the USA. Ordinary Chechens, however, never harbored any negative sentiment toward Americans.

One egregious example of ignorance about Chechnya is that some people believe it is in the Czech Republic, which is a Central European country and a member of the European Union. Even some journalist cannot pronounce the name "Chechnya" properly.