-Caveat Lector- WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a prelude to war! Chechnya — Reiteration of Tragedy Col. Stanislav Lunev November 2, 1999 There is yet another new and dangerous development in "democratic" Russia. In the aftermath of recent events in Dagestan, RF (Russian Federation) troops have once more invaded the Republic of Chechnya in the Northern Caucasus, where RF warplanes are daily bombing the small breakaway republic as part of a plan to turn it into a "sanitized" zone, as the expression goes. Hiding behind popular slogans about fighting "international terrorism," RF authorities have determined to destroy Chechnya's government and infrastructure including its cities and towns. The number of fatalities in the civilian population already counts in the thousands, and the number of refugees is estimated at hundreds of thousands. RF leaders refuse to recognize the Chechen government as legitimate and recognize in its place the newly organized Chechen State Council, formed in 1996 by Russian authorities and consisting of a pro-Russian Chechen parliament. As Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has stated, Russia will only acknowledge as legitimate this little-known group of Chechen parliamentarians currently exiled in Moscow. Taking advantage of an opening in Chechen defenses, the Russian military ordered troops into Chechnya — and in such great numbers that it violated the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) agreement. This is just one of the many examples of Moscow's contempt for treaties and other international agreements when its own interests are concerned. Few in the West seem willing to learn from past lessons. Using the political climate created by events in Chechnya, the RF National Security Council, in early October, began to reconsider its "Main Concept" doctrine. According to the Main Concept doctrine, the Russian military will reserve the right to use nuclear weapons whenever conventional weapons prove ineffective. The RF government is also requesting parliament to increase the military budget to 1.5 of its present size. In reality, the conflict in the Northern Caucasus constitutes a full-scale war. Many experts predict it will be especially barbaric as well as very damaging to the RF itself. They are expecting the same counterproductive outcome as the 1995-96 war with Chechnya. This isn't because of the lack of training or skill in guerrilla warfare by the RF Army but because of the lack of popular support for renewed devastation in a region that still hasn't recovered from the previous war. The real "justification," the hidden agenda behind this action, is to keep Yeltsin and his "Family" of thugs in power. Otherwise, after the coming election, they may find themselves behind bars. The Family will try to forestall the elections by declaring a state of emergency in order to keep themselves in the Kremlin. They know that the populace is deathly sick of them and of their drunken, half-crazed leader, Boris Yeltsin. Last month Konstantin Borovoi, the State Duma deputy, claimed that a Russian military- intelligence officer had given him advance warning of the impending wave of terrorist bombings in Russian cities. Borovoi speculated that the Russian authorities might themselves have been responsible since they had an interest in provoking further instability in Chechnya. On September 29, Russian TV (Channel ORT) quoted an unidentified Russian politician — possibly the well-known governor of Krasnojarsk Oblast, General Lebed — as strongly suspecting that the bombings in Russian cities are connected with events in Dagestan and were organized by high- ranking Russian officials. This politician likewise concludes that these leaders are trying to stay in power by creating mass fear in order to have an excuse to suspend elections. RF Prime Minister Vladimir Putin immediately countered these allegations by denying they were made by General Lebed and called them "total delirium." But Putin is a pawn in the Family's game of musical chairs with the Russian prime ministry. He is being used to serve Family interests and may be unaware of the real plans and intentions of the Kremlin bosses. What other reason is there to explain why Alesandr Voloshin met well-known terrorist Shamil Basayev in France exactly one month before the terrorist attacks in Dagestan? After all, Basayev has been officially outlawed as an "international terrorist" and is wanted also by Interpol. The Russian press (Segodnya) reported that Voloshin, a Berzovsky protégé, had met in secret with Chechen rebel leader Basayev just prior to the Muslim uprising in Dagestan. Mr. Berzovsky, who is financial advisor to Yeltsin's Family and guardian of its enormous wealth, presented a "little gift" of $2 million in cash to Shamil Basayev, who later confessed receipt of the gift before the Islamic Shariat Court. Another Russian newspaper (Sovershenno Secretno, #9, '99) reported that the Russian agency for the Protection of Government Communications (FAPSY) recently detected cell-phone conversations between Shamil Basayev and Berezovsky, who had also given a computer center to renowned Chechen terrorist Raduev. Even the Chechen field commanders acknowledge that they have very "warm" relations with Mr. Berezovsky. In a time when the Russian economy is in ruins and the whole country is suffering multiple crises, the last thing the country needs is this new war in Chechnya. But the Kremlin is using it to divert public attention from domestic problems to a mythical enemy in the Caucasus, and may well succeed as the war progresses. If Russian troops in Chechnya are victorious, the Family may try to increase Putin's popularity — he has promised immunity to the Family from prosecution — and thereby strengthen the Family's chances of holding its grip on the Kremlin. Of course, this is only one of the many scenarios to preserve the power of the present regime. Kremlin leaders have not yet decided which of the scenarios they will choose and are, therefore, keeping them all in readiness. And in the struggle to stay in power they do not care about sacrificing innocent civilians, who are paying the price of Family stratagems with their blood. Contrary to Western opinion, the wars in the Trans-Caucasus, both past and present, have been anti-colonial wars against Russia. Russia has ruled this area since the 18th century. No matter how corrupt and irrational the current Russian regime is, almost all political parties in Russia are reluctantly supporting the war in the Caucasus for this misguided reason. But this situation is not something unusual for Russia. Just as was formerly the case with all the Great Powers, relinquishing territorial possessions is not considered an acceptable option, even when military action is unwise. However, compared to the present situation, the stalemate in Russian-Chechen relations, achieved by General Lebed in 1995, would still be infinitely preferable for all concerned. The gang in Moscow, nevertheless, has decided to wage a ruthless war with total disregard for life, even of its own people. Not even Milosevich moved against the Kosovars with such disdain for human life. But, at least in the case of Chechnya, there is little chance that Mr. Clinton will send in his NATO bombers as well. **COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. 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