While the invasion of Dagestan has always officially been the given as the reason for the start of the second Chechen conflict, that began on the 5th of August, 1999, and was immediately retaliated against with Russian bombings in the region. And while an outright declaration of war against Chechnya was made on August 29th of 1999, it was not extremely popular with the Russian general public, and so Russian troops did not enter Chechnya until Oct. 1st of 1999, more than three weeks after the apartment bombings. The Russian authorities immediately accused Chechen rebels (a.k.a. Muslim terrorists) of responsibility for these bombings, and this in turn, galvanized the public opinion in support of the second war in Chechnya. For a more accurate time line of events I suggest: http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-satter043002.asp. However, all pertinent information about the time lines can be easily accessed on the web. While I am certainly in no way a supporter of Muslim terrorism, or conspiracy theories in general, and while terrible atrocities were committed by both sides before, and during, the conflict, to suggest that these (apartment) bombings were merely coincidental, and that little or no proof exists that they were state sponsored terror, is the worst type of 'propaganda' I can think of. This is a reasonably accurate documentary, and I admire its makers courage and determination.
