The capital of the Republic was Grozny,
founded in 1818 as a fort to protect the boundaries of Russia from the
attacks of savage Caucasian tribes. Through almost two centuries the town
had been developing and eventually grew out from a provincial fort into a
prominent industrial city which had its theaters, universities and colleges,
industries and crafts.
This war has a strong smell of oil, but it would be extremely naive to state that this is merely a fight for oil-rich terrain.
I think its important to make the point that, if this war was about oil, Russia would never have abandoned Kazakhstan, which is half Russian, and sits on the largest pool of oil outside the Persian Gulf. Maybe larger. They would never have turned loose of Azerbaijan, another huge oil producer.
Why would they turn loose of an oil-rich country the size of Europe, while fighting to hang on to a tiny region with... an oil refinery?
The answer is that it is not about oil. Its not even about preventing Chechen independence, since Yeltsin effectively granted that in the mid-nineties. It is a war against crime gangs and muslim terrorists, very simply.
Bookmarked -- fascinating read. Thanks for posting this story.
I assume this is all too true. What a horrible adn depressing story. But thank you for posting this. It removed the last vestages of doubt I had as to how we will have to deal with the "militant" Muslims.
Much as Stalin was a man for all men in all times to loath, he understood how to deal with the Muslim part of Russia.
When I finish an article "Wisdom with The Wine", I'll post it. In the meantime the observation "The Arab understands best power and vengence." bears remembering.
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