"The [Second Chechen War] was caused by America's attempt to gain control of the Caspian Sea, this extraordinary energy reserve, a crucial geographic point for controlling all the former Soviet republics and Iran, where the viaducts transporting oil and gas run. To do so, they knew full well what the best tool was destabilizing Chechnya and Dagestan. The war in Chechnya began on the basis of this geopolitical premise: the United States' attempt to hold the Islamic Republic of Iran in check and seize Russia's historical territories. The forces in play at the time were the Russians, including the Chechens, and terrorists infiltrated by the CIA through a state that had sold itself to the Americans: Georgia."