Posted on 10/03/2004 7:05:12 AM PDT by Snapple
Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov supported the U.S.-led coalition's intervention into Iraq.
(Excerpt) Read more at taraskuzio.net ...
The Russians overthrew Chechnya's President Maskhadov and call him a terrorist. Putin tries to link this moderate Muslim and former Soviet General to Al Qaeda.
Not All Chechens opposed to Russian rule are terrorists:
Snip from linked article:
"In February, the U.S. State Department added three Chechengroups to the federal list of terrorist groups. This is the firstoccasion when the U.S. has labeled Chechen groups as "terrorist."State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that the three designated Chechen groups had "training and money links" to the Al-Qaeda terrorist network.A U.S. State Department press release later explained thatthe U.S. does not "consider all Chechen fighters to be terrorists."Maskhadov is not on the list of Chechen "terrorists" as he has neversupported the use of violence for political ends against civilians,unlike Shamil Basaev whose organization was designated as"terrorist."
Many of the same kinds of actions undertaken by Basaev are also routinely undertaken by Russian forcesin Chechnya. Beatings, murders, rapes, theft, and the removal of
children and teenagers by "death squads" in order to politically intimidate the remaining population are also consistent with the U.S.definition of "terrorism,"
Concerning the early August 1999 incursion of Wahhabi forces from Chechnya into Dagestan, there also remain a great many questions. Pro-democracy Russian publications have reported, relying on inrormation obtained from French intelligence, that Yeltsin's chief of staff (and now Putin's chief of staff as well) Aleksandr Voloshin met with Shamil Basaev and Anton Surikov, a former GRU officer who had helped to direct Basaev's activities in Abkhaziya in the early 1990's, at the estate of the well-known arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi in the south of France. "Voloshin," the newspaper Novaya Gazeta wrote, "was concerned about the situation in Russia and the succession problem. Luzhkov seemed to be a threat and his alliance with Primakov was already a decided matter. They had to be stopped... The political situation and the rules of the game needed to be completely changed." (Novaya Gazeta, 24 January 2000)
I recently came across a useful volume, entitled Spetsnaz GRU, written by former officers of Russian and Soviet military intelligence and published in Moscow in the year 2000, which provides roughly the same information concerning this key meeting between Voloshin and Shamil Basaev, during which Voloshin is said to have handed Basaev $10 million "a sum fully compatible with the costs of a small war."
The authors of this volume, who, unlike the contributors to the aforementioned Novaya Gazeta are not political "democrats," also note that when Russian military intelligence observed the Basaev and Khattab forces coming across the border from Chechnya into Dagestan, they were "commanded not to enter into battle with them and not to hinder the movement of the rebels." (pp. 554-555)
President Maskahdov has stated in several interviews that he directly warned the Russian side of the impending incursion, and independent Russian journalists have confirmed that he did in fact do so. (See, for example, Versiya, 1-7 February 2000)
http://www.peaceinchechnya.org/reports/paper_dunlop.htm
On 6 June 1999 — a full three months before the terror bombings [of apartments] in Moscow-a Swedish journalist, Jan Blomgren, reported in the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet that one option being considered by the Kremlin leadership and its associates was a series of "terror bombings" in Moscow which could be blamed on the Chechens. (See The Independent [London], 29 January 2000)
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/09/08/maskhadov.profile/
This CNN article last month gave a pretty good chonology for those of us doing a 'catch up' on what and how things got to where they are in Chechan/Russia relations. After reading it, one gets the impression that Russia has done a lot to contribute to the problems in the region as well. Thoughts? Feedback?
In an interview published in the April 26, 2001 issue of the pro-democracy weekly Obshchaya Gazeta, President (and retired Soviet general) Ruslan Aushev of Ingushetiya, which is a small autonomous republic adjacent to Chechnya, stated: "I know [President] Maskhadov personally. In those three 'peace' years-from 1996 to 1999-we would meet very often... He is a man who has a concept of conscience, of honor, and of decency." In addition, he "was one of the very best commanders in our [Soviet] army. I underline: in our not-yet-corrupted army. That says a lot."
When Maskhadov took office in early 1997, President Aushev noted, he "received a destroyed republic with a collapsed economy. Plus thousands of [Chechen] men armed to the teeth. To whom was he to have turned for help? To the federal center [in Moscow]? No. The federal center was playing a waiting game until all this 'Chechen epopee' should end and Chechnya should be forced to its knees." The May 1997 signed economic agreements were simply not put into effect by Russia.
If President Aushev is correct — and I believe that he is — then Russia, and not Chechnya, bears the lion's share of the responsibility for the failure not to make productive use of three years of peace during 1996-1999. (John B. Dunlop Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution)
http://www.peaceinchechnya.org/reports/paper_dunlop.htm
Maskhadov's forces do attack Russian soldiers and officials. The Russians themselves may have been secretly sponsoring the extremist Basmaev as a way of "proving" that the war against Chechnya was justified. Maskhadov did want an independent Chechnya. Basmaev claims he gets money from his operations from the Russian government budget.
SOME POINTS:
"In January of 1997, Maskhadov, a political moderate and a former decorated colonel in the Soviet army, was elected to a five-year term as the Chechen president, in the presence of international election monitors who judged the voting to have been free and fair. In May of 1997, Maskhadov and President Boris Yeltsin met in Moscow and vowed to put an end to 400 years of hostility between the Russian and Chechen peoples. A large number of economic agreements were signed by Maskhadov and then Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin.
Unfortunately, the Khasavyurt Accords of August 1996 are now deemed by Russian elites, and especially by those in the so-called power ministries, to have been an act of betrayal. "No more Khasavyurts!" is a slogan which one frequently encounters in statements by top Russian government and military officials. Several Russian military leaders have suggested that General Lebed should be put on trial for having committed treason."
(John B. Dunlop Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution)
http://www.peaceinchechnya.org/reports/paper_dunlop.htm
In a statement released on 17 September in which he takes responsibility for the recent wave of terrorist attacks in Russia, radical Chechen field commander Shamil Basaev wrote: "This year I have received just $10,000 and 5,500 euros [$6,800] from foreigners. I operate exclusively on funds from the Russian budget."
Stanislav Belkovskii, the head of the National Strategy Institute, in an essay published on apn.ru on 15 September said that when President Putin made his proposals for political reform, "all his enemies in Moscow were happy, as they feel that now he is finished." Belkovskii added that while he used to believe in Putin's historical mission, now he had to agree with Putin's opponents, as the proposed reforms are nothing but an attempt at a new redistribution of property for the benefit of the interest groups now represented in the Kremlin. He said the federal bureaucratic system now is based on the model of an organized criminal group. Its philosophy is very simple: to collect money from the controlled territory and to provide physical protection to those who pay money. This system does not care about average citizens, as they have no money. Therefore, the proposed appointment of governors is part of that "business plan," an attempt to put under the federal interest groups' control the assets of regional and provincial elites. In a separate interview on Ekho Moskvy on 16 September, Belkovskii said that Putin's proposals are in no way linked with the Beslan hostage-taking drama and were formulated in March and April by former presidential-administration head Dmitrii Kozak and his deputy, Vladislav Surkov. VY
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2004/09/170904.asp
Fifty-six percent of Russians say that the government should have made concessions to the Beslan terrorists in an effort to save the lives of hostages, according to a new survey by the Levada Analytical Center, "Novye izvestiya" reported on 16 September. Thirty-nine percent said the Beslan tragedy was a result of the war in Chechnya, while 27 percent blamed it on international terrorism, and 12 percent said it resulted from "Western intrigues." Fifty-two percent said the events were made possible because of "corruption in the police and secret services," but only 6 percent said they think the Russian secret services played a role in organizing the attack. Forty-two percent said they think lives might have been saved if President Putin had personally negotiated with the hostage takers and 37 percent said that Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov should have been asked to intervene. Only 4 percent of respondents described the storming of the school as "successful," while 30 percent said it was "satisfactory" and 61 percent said it was "unsatisfactory." Seventy-eight percent said they believe the government is hiding the truth about Beslan and 76 percent believe that some of the terrorists managed to escape. RC
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2004/09/170904.asp
A statement on Kavkaz-Tsentr that purports to have been written by Basaev claims that the radical field commander carried out the terrorist attacks for a total of $20,000, money that he said he received not from abroad but "from the Russian budget."
Maskhadov is not loyal to Moscow, but that doesn't make him an Islamic terrorist--and certainly not a foreign one. He attacks military targets and denounces terrorist tactics.
Who gave the Beslan terrorists their really great arms?
Why are the cops arresting FSB officals setting bombs in apartments? Because they work for whoever pays them.
FSB Director Mikhail Barsukov has started a corruption purge within his own agency, Komsomolskaya pravda reported on 28 September.
FSB Director Mikhail Barsukov has started a corruption purge within his own agency, Komsomolskaya pravda reported on 28 September.
Corruption in the Russian Military
One of the most interesting sections of the SNS report is the one devoted to defense and law enforcement. The report argues that the lack of real military reform -- combined with corruption and mismanagement -- have led to the accelerating deterioration of the material status of the military and the erosion of its morale.
"As a result of the fight for their survival, a considerable part of the officer corps of the Russian Federation has already crossed the line of irreversible moral decay," the report claims. "Corruption, embezzlement, and commercial activity at the expense of the service has become the norm for many officers."
"A negative balance exists between the army and the state," the report continues. "The state is no longer in a position to maintain and control the armed forces. Therefore, it closes its eyes to corruption and plunder. In turn, the military remains loyal to the state insofar as it is allowed to steal and accept bribes."
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2004/08/0fd30fa7-4397-4c4b-b107-ea7342d57512.html
"Vremya novostei" and "Novye izvestiya" reported on 21 September that police the previous day arrested an FSB border-service warrant officer and two other men who are accused of helping wanted criminals to flee the country. One of the men allegedly roamed Moscow looking for clients, while another, a Palestinian who owns a small tourism company, provided them with false passports and other documents. The FSB officer then allegedly helped the clients to pass through the airport-security checkpoint where he worked. Reportedly, the group took $1,500 for each border crossing. During the arrest, investigators seized 10 blank Russian passports, airplane tickets, and more than 60 stamps of various organizations, including those of FSB border-service checkpoints. Investigators are still trying to determine how many criminals' escapes were abetted by this group.
The situation clearly demonstrates more than simply that Russia's security services are incapable of fighting modern terrorism; it suggests that their ineptitude and corruption are actually stimulating terrorism.
http://www.rferl.org/features/features_Article.aspx?m=09&y=2004&id=3CAB44EC-DA1D-4A9A-9366-D66C2381C27C
"Komsomolskaya pravda" wrote on 13 September that terrorists are now using increasingly sophisticated weapons and explosives. A few years ago, they used mainly ordnance retrieved from unexploded shells and bombs, while now they use industrial explosives that are normally employed by the special services. The terrorists who attacked Beslan were equipped with the best sniper rifles and even the state-of-the-art Shmel flamethrower, the daily wrote. Moscow Mayor Yurii Luzhkov told TV-Tsentr on 7 September that security officials must be held accountable for Beslan. "We must ask them why the terrorists in Beslan had the best Russian weapons," Luzhkov said.
http://www.rferl.org/features/features_Article.aspx?m=09&y=2004&id=3CAB44EC-DA1D-4A9A-9366-D66C2381C27C
If there is a single factor that determines the ineffectiveness of the Russian security services, it is corruption, military analyst Vladislav Shurygin wrote in "Zavtra," No. 37, this month. Shurygin argued that the main problem with Russia's secret services is that they too closely replicate Russia's corruption-riddled society. The FSB, he wrote, is clumsy, poorly managed, and servile, and pervasive corruption creates an ideal environment for terrorists. Moreover, Shurygin added, "it is not clear to Putin that the 'siloviki' are not the pillar of the state but rather are officials bogged down in intrigues and corruption who long ago forgot their duties."
The media have reported frequently on examples of how this corrupt society facilitated terrorist attacks, including traffic police who accepted bribes in exchange for not inspecting a convoy of vehicles, immigration-service officials taking money to issue travel documents to wanted criminals, corrupt military personnel who are prepared to sell modern weapons and explosives to criminals, or FSB officers who leak information about the work of their agency.
http://www.rferl.org/features/features_Article.aspx?m=09&y=2004&id=3CAB44EC-DA1D-4A9A-9366-D66C2381C27C
For years now, some voices have asserted that the secret services are not interested in capturing Basaev, who has taken responsibility for the most striking terrorist acts of recent years, including the 1995 seizure of a hospital in Budennovsk, the October 2002 takeover of the Dubrovka Theater in Moscow, and the Beslan school attack this month. Such skeptics argue that the officials in charge of the "antiterrorism operation" in Chechnya and, now, the "war against international terrorism" fear that such a victory would lead to a loss of their funding, influence, and prestige. http://www.rferl.org/features/features_Article.aspx?m=09&y=2004&id=3CAB44EC-DA1D-4A9A-9366-D66C2381C27C
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