The old Vladimir Putin is back, confronting a terrorist attack in Moscow by using the same kind of coarse and colorful language that helped him win the presidency a decade ago. A day after twin suicide bombings in the subway that killed 39 people, the powerful prime minister told Russians that he is certain the masterminds of the attacks would be found. The security services have blamed extremists from the North Caucasus, a predominantly Muslim region in southern Russia that includes Chechnya. “We know they are lying low, but it is already a matter of pride for the law enforcement agencies to drag them out of the sewer and into broad daylight,” Putin said at a transportation security meeting shown on Russian television Tuesday. The choice of the gutter language recalled Putin's famous threat to “wipe out the Chechen rebels in the outhouse” after they were blamed for a series of apartment building bombings that terrorized Moscow in 1999. Putin, as prime minister at the time, sent in overwhelming military force to pound the region into submission and was elected president the following year. Now in his second stint as prime minister after serving two full terms as president, Putin has an excuse to revert to the tough line that shored up his authority following past terrorist attacks. While welcomed by many Russians, it also raises fears that civil liberties may be further sacrificed under the pretext of fighting terrorism. Capitalizing on the outrage, members of the Kremlin-loyal parliament proposed bringing back the death penalty for terrorism. Russia has imposed a moratorium on capital punishment.
