Iraq is not the bloodiest conflict between Islamist terrorists and a Western power. Not even Israel has that dubious distinction. The war between Russia and Chechen rebels is said to have claimed 200,000 victims, including 25,000 children.

The Russians prefers to flatten entire cities with artillery rather than doing precision bombing, and fighting house—to—house like the US. But the Chechen rebels have a record of targeting civilians that is unsurpassed in horror, including the Moscow theater hostage crisis, and worst of all, the deliberate murder of 330 children and teachers in Beslan.

Now we hear from British intelligence, through the London Sunday Telegraph, that

"Iran is secretly training Chechen rebels in sophisticated terror techniques to enable them to carry out more effective attacks against Russian forces, the Sunday Telegraph can reveal."

This is bad news for the Russians, who have suffered an estimated 10,000 military casualties already. Russian President Putin has been supportive of Iran because he  wants to sell arms and nuclear power plants to Tehran. No doubt he has already been told about this "Western intelligence."

But the public leak through the Telegraph today is puzzling. It might be designed to put public pressure on Putin, especially if another Beslan—style massacre occurs. On the other hand, the article suggests that the Iranians might be training Chechens against Russia to pressure Putin not to renege on nuke supplies to the next dangerous nuclear—armed regime in the world.

The article quotes "a senior intelligence official" as saying

"Just as they (Iran) have orchestrated attacks against British troops in Basra to pressure Britain to drop its opposition to Iran's nuclear programme, so they are trying to put pressure on Moscow by backing Chechen fighters."

It's a world of mirrors. But there isn't much doubt who is the real threat.