Posted on 01/15/2005 9:24:30 PM PST by jb6
On a similar note, I find it interesting that the Afghans, some of whom you would have suspected to be amongst the most avid supporters of Al Qaeda, don't really seem to have taken up the cause outside of their own borders.
Perhaps because they have basically lived under AQ rule in the form of AQ's proxies the Taliban for years. Also, I suspect that there's a number of other diffferences between Afghanistan and Chechnya. Maybe extremist preachers have had more success in Chechnya, maybe the brutality of the war helped radicalize elements of the Chechen people.
BTW, I believe that there are still some AQ supporters among Afghan nationals, particularly among the Taliban and Hekmatyar's people.
This by now has largely been revealed to be Russian FSB trying to get America and the EU to add the Caucasian insurgency to the list of terrorists. Any so called Chechen in Iraq is a Russian convert, a 3rd+ generation immigrant to Jordan, or some other person with no connection to Chechnya or Kavkaz. They basically lie to get higher standing.
Chechnya has been a hot spot since 1991. Many arab fighters went there because the population welcomes them and the fighting is stand up for the most part, not fighting against the people they wish to bring sharia to.
No fighter in Chechnya has ever been proven to be a supporter of AQ or anything of the sort. The closest was Khattab once met bin Laden in the 80s, but he wasn’t wanted then, so hardly a proof of guilt. The Caucasian insurgency only recently abandoned democratic goals. They have held fair elections (by OSCE’s report) in the past. The world’s ignorance in this area is part of why the conflict continues. Even most Russians want the Kavkaz area to be granted freeedom. Putin’s oil needs keep Kavkaz occupied.
^ free unbiased reporting on this subject.
AQ is for sure among Hekmatyar’s people. The Taliban know their association with AQ costs them support. More Uzbeks are with the Taliban than arabs.
An easy way to tell who supports who is look for mention of the fighters/emirs in propaganda videos. AQ omits Chechnya/Kavkaz from their mention, similar to how they omit Mindenao. A subtle way of saying “these guys aren’t with us except for being co-religionists).
Not acknowledging each other is the best way to show non association, but they will never slander each other out of an Islamic ruling of “Fitna” or creating division between the believers. AQ do not hold by this rule, as they hold to takfifi beliefs that allow them to say who is and isn’t muslim. Chechens and other Caucasians in Kavkaz do not adhere to Takfifism as a rule.
Hope this helps!
>No fighter in Chechnya has ever been proven to be a supporter of AQ or anything of the sort.
As Hoplite pointed out, there are two Chechens at Gitmo. So there may be some Chechens who support AQ, but they’re small in number.
>free unbiased reporting on this subject.
Is that really “free unbiased reporting”? I don’t know.
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