There are reports that two Russian airliners have gone down, almost simultaneously. Sounds like bombs with timers.

Why has Chechnya sided with the islamofascists?

For the same reason the islamofascists began to get a foothold in Bosnia. During the Clinton arms embargo of the Balkans, the Bosnians started to rely upon arms smuggled with the help of Iranian agents because only Iran was willing to help at that time.

The way the world has turned it's back on the brutal Russian campaign against Chechnya is a disgrace. It's no wonder that the Chechnyan resistance is now so entwined with international islamic terrorists. If I were a Chechnyan I doubt I would turn away help from the only people in the world who seem willing.

Yes I heard this morning on the news that one of the airliners had turned their transponder to squawk 7500 right before it blew up.

Don't overlook the Georgia-Ossetia war in the Caucasus, another hot spot down there.

And don't overlook a common-cause in jet fuel contamination, a not-unheard-of problem of Russian aviation infrastructure.

But look at the recorders, they should dispell any ambiguity in the next few hours.

My own first thought is that the crashes are due to poor maintenance, rather than "terrorists". Russian civil aviation is notoriously sloppy, and having seen some of the engineering drawings for Russian airliners I would sooner play a game of Russian roulette with a Glock than fly on a Russian airline. As JimO above suggested, fuel contamination is another good possibility. When I worked for a Boeing supplier with some other contractors a few years ago, some of the engineers who had spent stints in Russia right after the Cold War ended used to swap horror stories about Russian maintenance and engineering practices. There was some exageration to be sure, but...
Don't ascribe to criminality what makes more sense as stupidity.

As a rule, Don, that's true, but there comes a point where coincidence is strained -- not impossible, but highly unlikely.

Poor maintenance would not surprise but the timing is highly suspicious. I wouldn't fly a Russian airline.

The Jim Lehrer News Hour was reporting the other day that each airplane had one female body that was unclaimed by relatives. Each of them had Chechen names.

So if this is true it could have been suicide bombers. From the Moscow opera hostage situation, we know they are willing to do it.