Springtime in Grozny

The New York Times has a report on the capital "city" of Chechnya where selling or stealing rubble is the new growth industry, i.e., they're turning rubble into rubles.

The last few paragraphs tell the story of a young girl who is sick--the result of exposure to toxic substances while out on the rubble hunt. Expect similar stories to emerge from Iraq. I'll bet Putin and Bush both agree that this is "regrettable but necessary."

Things like this pretty much negate any sort of "glory" derived from combat, particularly when the war isn't necessary.