I second that extra +1 to jmo.

The Russian Federation *is* a country, Draug. There is no Russia. If you look at their UN delegation, there is a delegate from the Russian Federation, not Russia. Its like saying Puerto Rico isn't a part of the United States (Maybe...I'm no expert on the makeup of russia though)

Also, am I the only one concerned about these events? Why are they in Boston still? I understand they lived there, but unless they were really stupid (and based upon the attacks they weren't) they would've known the police would catch on sooner or later and corner them. They had a solid three days to flee the country. They could have gone to Chechnya, where they sure as hell be safe, be able to live (for a while longer at least) and perhaps plan more attacks. I say this because the US politically cannot touch anything in Chechnya, nor would Russia go in on a manhunt for the sake of the US. Why die guns blazing in Mass?

@ Draugnar

A collection of cops with Mini-14s and adequate training can pin down even the most heavily armed/armored gunmen long enough for the SWAT team to get there.

I'm not opposed to a small dedicated SWAT team for medium/large cities, but camo fatigues and armored vehicles are excessive.

@ jmo1121109

I understand your point, but one bomber doesn't justify locking down a major city under de facto martial law and having cops play Guardsman.

Puerto Rico isn't part of the United States. It isn't a state or commonwealth but is a country that happens to be under US protection. And suddenly to be a nation, one must have a representative at the UN?

SKY news reports that brothers move to the USA from a Russian region near Chechnya. Their nationality could therefore be Russian but if they are from Chechnya stock their ethnicity could be Chechen. Chechnya today has over 95% ethnic Chechens and less than 2% ethnic Russians. The chechen's generally are Muslim and the Russians are generally Russian orthodox.

I'm guessing that the suspected bombers would identify themselves as Chechen based on their reported Muslim faith.

Draugnar - "Puerto Rico isn't part of the United States. It isn't a state or commonwealth but is a country that happens to be under US protection. And suddenly to be a nation, one must have a representative at the UN? "

Umm, that doesn't sound right to me at all. If you are born in Puerto Rico, you are a U.S. citizen. Wikipedia, for whatever that is worth, says it is an unincorporated territory of the United States.

With it's own government, but it is also a very different aituation in that PR doesn't strive for independence and fight us to get it where as Chechneya fights wars against Russia trying to escape Russian "Christian" rule.

"Puerto Rico isn't part of the United States. It isn't a state or commonwealth but is a country that happens to be under US protection. And suddenly to be a nation, one must have a representative at the UN?"

Umm, Draug it very certainly is a part of the United States. Its a territory. And it certainly isn't a country, because being a "country" implies sovereignty, which Puerto Rico does not have. Puerto Rico cannot make foreign policy, cannot conduct trade with other nations via their own representatives (must go through the US Trade Delegation to whichever country), etc. Also, there are many of those in Puerto Rico who do want independence. They just happen to vote on it rather than fight and lose.

Chechnya is a Russian territory in rebellion. It is part of the Russian Federation, which is a country. Russia is not a country. Its strictly a name thing, like its not China but the PRC, not Taiwan but ROC, etc. Federation is just in the name to describe the type of government.

And actually, yes Draug. Every nation has a representative to the UN now. I may be wrong and a few have yet to join, but I'm fairly sure every nation in the world has a representative.

Kosovo, Taiwan and Vatican City aren't members of the UN. They have observer status.

Ah, but I never said member. I said representative, meaning they could have observer status or be a full member