--- Yoshie Furuhashi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: The question, I thought, was whether Kurds, Kashmiris, and Chechens (as well as East Timorese, Albanians in Kosovo, etc. from recent history) have the right to self-determination. ---
Yoshie, upon a little reflection, I think this is a pretty naive way of considering the situation. Who gets to determine Chechnya's status? People who live in Chechnya? In 1991, Grozny's population was about 50% non-Chechen. The Nautsky district in Chechnya was about 75% non-Chechen, mostly Russians, Ukrainians and Cossacks who lived there since the 15th century. Those people have almost entirely fled, been forced out, or killed. None of them would have voted for an independent Chechnya. Do their voices matter? If not that, then who? Ethnic Chechens? What about the Chechen Diaspora? There are more Chechens who live outside Chechnya than inside it, and most of them have family members, and certainly have tribal ties, in Chechnya. What about the 100,000 Chechen Akkins living in Dagestan? What will they say? What about the people who live around Chechnya, in Dagestan, Georgia and Ingushetia, who have their lives affected by Chechnya's status? Nobody there wants an independent Chechnya. The Dagestanis would rather see at atomic bomb dropped on Grozny than see it revert to its 1998 condition. The Chechen militants supported the Abkhaz in Georgia's civil war. What do you think Georgians have to say about this? __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail - 50x more storage than other providers! http://promotions.yahoo.com/new_mail
