A Question of Honor in the Caucasus (see my comment too).

The Moscow Times ^ | 03-16-2005 | Yulia Latynina

[sergey1973]

One day after the death of Aslan Maskhadov, a little-known Chechen cleric from Argun, Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev, became the new leader of Ichkeria. Sadulayev openly condones terrorism and murder as legitimate methods in the conduct of jihad. Maskhadov's very existence was the last obstacle preventing the war for Chechen independence from turning into a Wahhabi revolution in the North Caucasus. Moscow has removed that obstacle.

[sergey1973]

Another in-depth analysis Yulia Latynina about the possible development in North Caucasus after Maskhadov. We may agree and disagree, but her opinion should not be dismissed as incompetent. I disagree with her when she says the following:

There are no good or bad cultures. All cultures are adapted to fulfill certain tasks. The culture of the Caucasus is adapted to function in the absence of a state.

This sound morally relativistic to me. I believe any culture can be compared to another and judged on the moral ground what kind of relationship it establishes within the society. There are plenty of unhealthy cultures outside of Judeo-Christian one, especially Islamist/Wahhabist totalitarian tyrannies where women have practically no rights other than giving birth, serve her husband needs and be essentially a slave of the family. I reject such culture without hesitation.

Nevertheless, Yulia can give a very good observation of the failure of Putin Regime in the North Caucasus and what it may cost the region and the rest of Russia.

[GarySpFc]

The article reeks not only of moral relativism, but is to my mind a propaganda piece for the terrorists.

There is no state in Russia today, either. It's important to understand that the rise of extremism in the Caucasus has resulted less from the ongoing war in neighboring Chechnya than from the total collapse of the state under President Vladimir Putin.

Discredit your enemy is the political voice of the terrorist in a guerrilla war, and that is exactly how this author attacks Putin. To say Russia has collapsed as a state is nonsense.

It goes without saying that the majority of Muslims would fight to prevent the establishment of a Wahhabi imamate more bravely and desperately than the Russian special forces. Many people in the North Caucasus despise the Wahhabis. But very often this doesn't include the authorities, who exploit the threat of Wahhabism to settle their own sordid disputes, to frighten Moscow and to enroll their blood enemies in the ranks of the Wahhabis.

Then why have so many Chechens joined al-Qaeda? You will find Chechen bodies on every battlefield in the world where you al-Qaeda fights.

The extremists enjoy a significant moral advantage as well. The authorities in the North Caucasus are fantastically corrupt and cowardly. Their betrayal of their own people knows no bounds.

This author sounds exactly like Jane Fonda the way she lays on the propaganda.

[GarySpFc]

Ping

[jb6]

There are no good or bad cultures. All cultures are adapted to fulfill certain tasks. The culture of the Caucasus is adapted to function in the absence of a state

Ahh the liberal mantra of non-judgementalism. So I guess Nazis and Soviet culture were oki doki? How about the Aztecs cutting out upto 10,000 human hearts on holy days and their priests practicing cannibalism? Slavery? Or how about Islam, where poor Yulia will be slapped down into her proper place as a breeding cow, property and easily replaced? It's hard to listen to any other statements made by people who say such stupidity.

[sergey1973]

Nope--I do not see Jane Fonda here.

Jane Fonda supported US Communist Enemies by openly coming to North Vietnam and praising the North Vietnam communist tyrannical and genocidal regime at a time when it was at war with the United States and when it was holding and torturing US POW's. She openly supported and helped the enemy. That was a betrayal--plain and simple.

Yulia does nothing like that. Yulia Latynina does NOT support or praise "Wahhabist revolution". Yulia Latynina does not goes to Saudi Arabia or any country that openly supports Islamists insurgency in Chechnya or elsewhere in Russia. Yulia does not sing a praise to Wahhabists. She does not sit near Bin Laden or Sajdulaev in a TV Interview calling for "Wahhabist victory". Yulia gave a diagnosis of corrupt Federal and Local structures showing how it endangers Russia's position in the North Caucasus. Probably she is wrong about Maskhadov as the "last obstacle" to "Wahhabist revolution in North Caucasus". You said quite well that every guerilla movement has respectable political and armed/terrorist wing and I 100% agree with it. Yulia (and I) is without military/law-enforcement experience and she missed these important details as I did on my blog sergeywatch discussing the Chechnya after Maskhadov. However, her description of official authorities is mostly correct. Also when she talks about "collapse of the state under President Vladimir Putin", she probably means break-down in law and order and the replacement of the democratic and political process with arbitrary rule by Putin and his cohort.

There is a difference between an outright betrayal and a legitimate dissent. We must be able to distinguish between the two.

[jb6]

Do you know what a fluffer is? This article is a terrorist fluf piece.

[sergey1973]

Yulia Latynina wrote : There are no good or bad cultures. All cultures are adapted to fulfill certain tasks. The culture of the Caucasus is adapted to function in the absence of a state

jb6 wrote: Ahh the liberal mantra of non-judgementalism. So I guess Nazis and Soviet culture were oki doki? How about the Aztecs cutting out upto 10,000 human hearts on holy days and their priests practicing cannibalism? Slavery? Or how about Islam, where poor Yulia will be slapped down into her proper place as a breeding cow, property and easily replaced? It's hard to listen to any other statements made by people who say such stupidity.

My response: I agree that it was incredibly stupid of Yulia to say that there are "no good or bad cultures". It is a moral relativism and in your words "liberal mantra of moral non-judgementalism". Nevertheless, she did a very good moral assessment of the Russian/North Caucasus official authorities. She deserves a credit for this. The gold digger can sift through tons of debree before finding a few pounds of gold. We can sift through tons of publications before finding a few passages worthy of reading. In Yulia's article there is a lot of wisdom (although a lot of debree too), so let's give her credit for have a good wisdom/debree ratio -:) Wisdom and thoughtful analysis can be found anywhere--even among liberals -:)

[GarySpFc]

I suspect that you have been in the US for a number of years, but not being raised here like JB6, myself and others it is difficult for you to appreciate the huge number of institutions and organizations which go into making up and sustaining our democracy. It's going to take time for Russia to develop that foundation.

I don't put Russia down for having a problem with their Mafia, military, etc. In the thirties, forties, and for years after that America had major problems with the Mafia on a large scale. In Kansas City we had a Mafia gang war in the eighties, and later it was discovered out little mob owned many of the Las Vegas casinos. In Nam we had many of the same problems the Russians experienced in Chechnya, but on a smaller scale. At times we had other problems, but our institutions helped us to over come those problems, and I am confident Russia is on a similar track.

[sergey1973]

I suspect that you have been in the US for a number of years, but not being raised here like JB6, myself and others it is difficult for you to appreciate the huge number of institutions and organizations which go into making up and sustaining our democracy. It's going to take time for Russia to develop that foundation.

GarySpFc. I've been living in US for years and I am perfectly aware of how much work has been put in making up of American system. I know history quite well to know how fragile is this thing called Civilization.

To study for Citizenship exam, I had to learn a bit about Constitution, branches of Government, History, etc. Recently I bought a book by Russel Kirk, "The Roots of the American Order". Also I want to read Federalist Papers--it's incredible to learn about the vision of the Founders.

When I criticize Putin or Yeltsin, I do not put down Russia at all. I attack them for stifling Russian Democracy. I attack Yeltsin for illegally dissolving and then shooting at the parliament (whatever this parliament was) in 1993 and then rewriting constitution to suite him. I attack Putin not only for Chechnya but for overall direction he is taking the country. With each year he behaves more and more like corrupt authocrat.

Under Puting apart from Chechnya (I agree that there are similarities to Vietnam, like guerilla warfare; however, the difference is that Chechnya is Russian territory and Chechens are Russian Citizens and they are deprived of any constitutional rights under the current authority) Russia experienced.

1. Totally illegal oil giant YUKOS takeover (whatever the history of privatization of YUKOS in mid-1990's, Khodorkovsky has made it into a transparent company respecting Western Standarts of accounting, business deals, etc).

2. End of the regional governors elections and replacing them with direct appontment from Kremlin. This was done again with disregard to Russian constitution. Some deputies in largely subservient parliament "Duma" suggested that Putin should even appoint city mayors. Fortunately Putin did not went that far yet, but you can't count on it in a future. Also imagine what would happen if Bush suddenly said that he would appoint governor of Kansas, New York, Illinois, and the rest of 50 states in a direct violation of US Constitution ? It's an illegal and it's an impeachable offense I presume.

3. Bringing all the major media outlets (like NTV, etc) under direct Kremlin control. Does Washington plan to nationalize CNN, CBS, FOX News, etc if the White House does not like certain coverage of the Administration ?

4. Replacement of crucial benefits in kind (including free transportation, utility subsidies), for millions of elderly, pensioners, with totally inadequate compensation--something like $5-$10 a month in addition to an average pension of $80 a month. You can be sure that this will put about 20 million people on the verge of starvation and substinent living, while top Kremlin officials will enjoy fantastic benefits (both monetary and in kind). Russian Pensioners did not have a chance to accumulate decent savings because in the State Run Economy, the average salaries were just enough only to cover basic expenses. The government officials (especially top officials) and MP's enjoy things like free healthcare at the world class clinics, ability to travel at the taxpayer expense anywhere around the world, free apartments or houses and bunch of other perks.

5. For now it's only rumours, but there is a perfect possibility that Putin may want to appoint himself president for life by Changing Russian Constitution again. With subservient and largely decorative Duma it's easy to do. Or he may avoid doing it and put his clone in his place with sham elections.

Overall I wish I could agree with your assessment of Russia, but I cannot share your optimism about Russian direction under Putin regime. Let's not equate attacking Putin/Kremlin with attacking Russia.

[GarySpFc]

Sergey,

My wife studied and passed the naturalization test 3/8/05, and after going over the questions at leat 50 times with her I am very familiar with the test. Understanding what is on the exam will provide you with and extremely elementary knowledge of America, and will definately not provide you with a knowledge of the institutions which are foundational to American democracy.

[sergey1973]

Say Congrats to your Wife ! I remember how it felt like interviewing with INS agent and painstaikingly study dozens of questions while being asked just a few. I read since about different aspects of American History (i.e. the Role of Supreme Court, etc.), so I have some knowledge beyond the Citizenship Exam.

[GarySpFc]

Thanks! Nadya is rapidly losing the feeling that she is an outsider and that she is the poor Russia lady in America now that she has passed the exam. I was happy to see you are reading the Federalist Papers. There is so much to learn. Here is a site where you will find more information. http://errantskeptics.org/

[sergey1973]

Thanks !