Any lingering hopes that the long-awaited appearance of President Boris Yeltsin on Tuesday would provide a solution to the crisis in Chechnya -- or at least a halt to the assault on Grozny -- were dissolved by a hardline, unbending speech that could have come straight out of the Soviet stylebook.


True, Yeltsin did call for a stop to the bombing of the Chechen capital, acknowledging that this "could lead to loss of life among the civilian population." About a week ago, that might still have carried a note of genuine compassion. But now, with much of Grozny reduced to smoldering rubble and hundreds of civilians already dead, such words ring hollow.


The key theme running through Yeltsin's awkward, stumbling and stilted half-hour address to the nation was self-justification. Russia, so his argument went, had been given no choice. Chechnya was a state without the law, without a democratically elected president, where human rights were abused on an everyday basis, where crime and violence prevailed and threatened to undermine the entire Russian economy.


The tanks and heavy guns destroying the villages around Grozny were, according to the president, sent in to restore order and ensure the rights of all citizens of Chechnya, irrespective of nationality or religion.


Nowhere was there any suggestion of regret over the loss of life, the destroyed homes, the injuries and ruined lives that the invasion has caused. It was as though the speech had been written two weeks ago, within hours of the order to go into Chechnya. Aside from the mention of the bombing, the only clues that Yeltsin was speaking after the events of the last few days were his references to Monday's meeting of the Security Council.


The fact is, as the president is doubtless very well aware, the military solution will be neither swift nor effective. The troops themselves have made public their distaste for the operation -- which has gone far from smoothly so far.


Yeltsin's call for them to finish the job indicates that a storming of Grozny is now imminent. If so, it will be a much nastier, bloodier affair than the speech's tone suggests. And the guerrilla war that would inevitably follow could go on for years or decades.


The occasion of the address provided a last-ditch opportunity for reconciliation. Perhaps it was already too late, but a cessation of hostilities or token withdrawal of some forces would have at least given a chance for a return to the negotiating table. It would, moreover, have put the ball firmly in Dzhokhar Dudayev's court. Instead, Yeltsin chose to ignore the advice of some of his closest former allies and to paint himself further into a corner.