-Caveat Lector- from: http://www.aci.net/kalliste/ Click Here: <A HREF="http://www.aci.net/kalliste/">The Home Page of J. Orlin Grabbe</A> ----- Russian Follies Russians Suspend Strikes Against Chechen "Terrorists" Maybe the "terrorist"-fighting FBI can help in the slaughter of Grozny. MOSCOW - Russia announced Friday that it was suspending air strikes and artillery bombardment on the Chechen capital, Grozny, for an indefinite period. It said that chlorine released by Chechen rebels posed a hazard for civilians, who have been trapped in the city by Russian shells and rockets. The unexpected announcement left many questions unanswered, since the chlorine releases were made within the last two months and apparently did not cause the same concern earlier. The Russians did not say how long the suspension would list, nor address the question of the civilians. Tens of thousands of civilians are believed trapped in cold, dark basements. They have been reluctant to leave because of the dangers from Russia's onslaught, and it is not clear that the bombing pause will encourage them to leave now. But the move came as a Russian offensive was stalled on the outskirts of Grozn y by fierce resistance from the Chechen fighters and by thick fog and bad weather. The ground fighting around Grozny will continue, the military said. At the same time, two senior Russian generals on the eastern and western fronts of the military offensive in Chechnya were replaced Friday. General Gennadi Troshev, the eastern commander, and General Vladimir Shamanov, the western chief, are leaving the combat zone, General Troshev announced. The Defense Ministry said the rotations were ''not a consequence of any professional errors in the counterterrorist operation,'' Interfax news agency reported. Russia claims that the 100,000-man force in Chechnya is a counterterrorist operation against Chechen ''bandits'' and ''gangsters.'' There have been unconfirmed reports for more than two weeks, however, that General Shamanov would be replaced because of a battle in early December in the Chechen town of Alkhan-Yurt. There, eyewitnesses have said that soldiers under his command went on a looting rampage and killed civilians who were in their way. At least 17 and perhaps up to 40 civilians were killed. However, the two generals were later awarded a Hero of Russia medal by then-President Boris Yeltsin. General Troshev said that he and General Shamanov were leaving to give other generals combat experience. ''The moment has arrived when someone else should have a go,'' he said, adding that both generals were being replaced by their deputies. The Defense Ministry said the General Staff had made the rotation so ''other commanders can gain combat experience,'' Interfax said. General Troshev will be replaced by General Sergei Makarov and General Shamanov by General Alexei Verbitsky. General Troshev will return to his earlier duties as deputy commander of the North Caucuses Military District, which includes Chechnya, while General Shamanov will return to his post as commander of the 58th Army in the same district. General Shamanov has been a particularly outspoken general. When reports surfaced in October that the Kremlin might be considering peace talks with the Chechens, General Shamanov openly warned that he would strip off his shoulder boards and quit the army and that others would follow him. His remarks reportedly infuriated the Kremlin. The announcement of the bombing pause came at a press conference at the Russian military headquarters in Mozdok by General Troshev. While air strikes are being suspended, General Troshev said, Russian forces would continue to fight on the ground. ''We have been forced to suspend military operations all around Grozny for one single reason,'' he said. ''There are still civilians there who fighters kept behind deliberately to use as human shields.'' Previously, the Russians have said that the released chlorine was blown away by winds around the city. General Troshev said that while Russian soldiers had gas masks, civilians did not, and this led to the decision to suspend the bombing. ''The area of the city of Grozny was today officially declared a risk zone, a zone of ecological danger,'' the general said. ''First and foremost this will affect civilians, children. So that's why the group command decided to suspend operations. Suspend does not mean discontinue military operations. Military operations are being conducted around the clock.'' The announcement came just a day after the two generals rejected a call for a three-day cease-fire by the Chechen president, Aslan Maskhadov. Russian air strikes on Chechen fighters continued Friday in other areas, including in the southern mountains. The military said Russian warplanes made more than 40 combat flights in the last 24-hour-period. International Herald Tribune, Jan. 8, 2000 The Religion Business Rabbis Ban the Internet "More dangerous than television." ISRAEL'S leading orthodox rabbis have issued a ruling banning the internet from Jewish homes, arguing that it is "1,000 times more dangerous than television" and threatens the survival of the country. The ruling, issued by the Council of Torah Sages, is an attempt by the rabbis to halt the infiltration of "sin and abomination" from the internet into the homes of the ultra-orthodox, whose children have hitherto been shielded from the temptations of the modern world. The rabbis recalled that they had banned television 30 years ago, and said that the dangers from the internet were even greater. They said it "puts the future generations of Israel in grave danger in a way that no other threat has since Israel became a nation". The newspaper of Degel Hatorah, one of the strictest of the religious parties in Israel, said the internet was "the world's leading cause of temptation, it incites and encourages sin and abomination of the worst kind." The majority of Israelis, who are secular, will ignore the ruling. But it is likely to deprive young members of the ultra-orthodox community - those who wear the black hats and long coats of the European ghetto - of a window on the secular world. Religious leaders are worried about a growing number of youths who break out of their closed communities in search of a secular life - a development that is partly blamed on the arrival of the computer in their homes, giving them the chance to join discussion groups, hear forbidden music and read about life outside. The ruling follows a sharp debate in the ultra-orthodox community about the role of computers. Some have seen them as a blessing, enabling men and women to earn money as computer programmers - a skill that many in these strict communities believe they excel in thanks to years of studying the intricacies of Jewish religious texts. But other rabbis have argued that the computer is a Trojan Horse of secular filth. The Torah Sages recommended that those who make a living in computers should be allowed to use them only at the work place. Those who do not have rabbinical permission to use a computer are called on to delete the web browser, which makes it impossible to surf the net. The newspaper Haaretz pointed out that while the most extreme sects banned all uses of the internet, even for business, as a "deadly poison which burns souls", there are many web sites designed as aids to studying the Torah. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a former chief rabbi of Israel, has his own website. Earlier this week, a 17-year-old student from Hertfordshire announced plans to float his Jewish community web site on the London Stock Exchange. Benjamin Cohen could become a millionaire with the popular site which includes business news, a dating agency and a 'cyber rabbi'. The London Telegraph, Jan. 8, 2000 ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, All My Relations. Omnia Bona Bonis, Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. 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