Russian police kill 8 in Dagestan

Russian police kill 8 in Dagestan.Eight suspected Islamist militants have been killed by Russian police in the southern region of Dagestan.Russian authorities said the operation was the bloodiest for several months in Dagestan, where security forces have been been battling a low-level insurgency linked to Islamist radicals.

Chechnya's Conflict

The war in Chechnya might officially be over, but rebels are still prepared to die for their beliefs.

Aljazeera special

The First Chechen War, also known as the War in Chechnya, was a conflict between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, fought from December 1994 to August 1996. After the initial campaign of 1994–1995, culminating in the devastating Battle of Grozny, Russian federal forces attempted to seize control of the mountainous area of Chechnya but were set back by Chechen guerrilla warfare and raids on the flatlands in spite of Russia's overwhelming manpower, weaponry, and air support. The resulting widespread demoralization of federal forces, and the almost universal opposition of the Russian public to the conflict, led Boris Yeltsin's government to declare a ceasefire in 1996 and sign a peace treaty a year later. The official figure for Russian military death toll is 5,500, while most estimates put the number between 3,500 and 7,500, or even as high as 14,000.[6] Although there are no accurate figures for the number of Chechen militants killed, various estimates put the number at about 3,000 to over 15,000 deaths. Various figures estimate the number of civilian deaths at between 30,000 and 100,000 killed and possibly over 200,000 injured, while more than 500,000 people were displaced by the conflict, which left cities and villages across the republic in ruins.[7]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Chechen_War

The Second Chechen War, in a later phase better known as the War in the North Caucasus,[16] was launched by the Russian Federation starting August 26, 1999, in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade (IIPB).

On 1 October Russian troops entered Chechnya.[17][18] The campaign ended the de facto independence of Chechen Republic of Ichkeria and restored Russian federal control over the territory. Although it is regarded by many as an internal conflict within the Russian Federation, the war attracted a large number of foreign fighters.

During the initial campaign, Russian military and pro-Russian Chechen paramilitary forces faced Chechen separatists in open combat, and seized the Chechen capital Grozny after a winter siege that lasted from late 1999 to the following February 2000. Russia established direct rule of Chechnya in May 2000 and after the full-scale offensive, Chechen militant resistance throughout the North Caucasus region continued to inflict heavy Russian casualties and challenge Russian political control over Chechnya for several more years. Some Chechen separatists also carried out terrorist attacks against civilians in Russia. These terrorist attacks, as well as widespread human rights violations by Russian and separatist forces, drew international condemnation.

As of 2009, Russia has severely disabled the Chechen separatist movement and large-scale fighting has ceased. Russian army and interior ministry troops no longer occupy the streets. The once leveled city of Grozny has recently undergone massive reconstruction efforts and much of the city and surrounding areas have been rebuilt at a quick pace. However sporadic violence still exists throughout the North Caucasus; occasional bombings and ambushes targeting federal troops and forces of the regional governments in the area still occur.[19][20]

On 16 April 2009, the counter-terrorism operation in Chechnya was officially ended.[1] As the main bulk of the army was withdrawn, the burden of dealing with the ongoing low-level insurgency mainly fell on the shoulders of the local police force. Three months later, the exiled leader of the separatist government, Akhmed Zakayev, called for a halt to armed resistance against the Chechen police force starting on August 1, and said he hoped that "starting with this day Chechens will never shoot at each other".[21]

The exact death toll from this conflict is unknown. Unofficial estimates range from 25,000 to 50,000 dead or missing, mostly civilians in Chechnya. Russian casualties are over 5,200 (official Russian casualty figures)[22] and are about 11,000 according to the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers.[23]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Chechen_War

Journalist killed over the conflict in Chechnya

Journalist killed over the crisis in Chechnya. Chechnya one of the Caucasus nations, which declared independence from Russia. Russia responded with a massive invasion and there been no true peace there.

Witness - Lost children of Chechnya - Jan 1 2009

Chechnya without Chechens

Both the Russian communists (the founder of Communism, Karl Marx including the first president after Russian Revolution, and later rulers such as Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, and Khrushchev, were all Jewish) and their communist brothers, otherwise known as Zionist Jews (first president of Israel, Chaim Weizmann, was a Russian communist Jew), have one thing in common
Rehmat1.wordpress.com

“I have been a combat soldier and have covered twelve high intensity wars from the front, but I have never seen anything that equals the heroism and bounless courage of the Chechen Mujahideen, who have no formal military training, have no heavy weapons and are even short of anti-tank rockets. There is almost no medicine or morphine for their wounded and no shelter from massive Russian bombardment which includes banned fuel air explosives, toxic gas and napalm. If taken alive by Russian they will be tortured first and then executed,” - Eric Margolis, a Canadian columnist and broadcaster.

Both the Russian communists (the founder of Communism, Karl Marx including the first president after Russian Revolution, and later rulers such as Lenin, Trotsky, Stalin, and Khrushchev, were all Jewish) and their communist brothers, otherwise known as Zionist Jews (first president of Israel, Chaim Weizmann, was a Russian communist Jew), have one thing in common - They both want their occupied countries (Chechnya and Palestine) without the Native people.

Russia has three major reasons to carry-out the genocide of Chechen Muslims. First is the region has significant amount of oil and gas reserves. As part of USSR - Chechnya used to supply the entire Russian needs of oil and gas. Second is that if Chechnya, one of its 19 autonomous republics, is allowed to separate from Russia - it would encourage the people of other republics to follow Chechnya’s lead - and could result Moscow losing 25% of its current ‘holdings’. Third, and Moscow’s real fear - is establishment of an Islamic State on its borders. It was the same fear which gave the West the reasons to carry-out Muslim Holocaust in both Bosnia and Kosova.

Chechen have more than 270 year history of resistance against the Russian imperialism. Chechen history is full of mass genocides carried out in the the name of Christianity and imperialism - in the 18th, 19th and the 20th century, the last one when Jewish-communist Stalin had tens of thousands of Chechen shot and the remainder of Chechen people deported to Siberian concentration camps - only allowed to return to their homeland in 1957.

Russian intelligence services KGB - like their counterparts in the US (CIA) and Israel (Mossad) are well-known for conducting terrorism and then blaming on Muslims. For example, former KGB colonel Alexander Litvinenko in his book ‘Blowing up Russia: Terror from Within’ alleges that it was KGB successor, the Federal Security Service (FSB) which coordinated the 1999 apartment block bombing in Russia that killed more than 300 people.

After the demise of USSR being one of world’s superpower in 1991 as result of bloody nose the Red Army received in Afghanistan - the parliament of autonomous republic of Russian Federation - representing 1.5 million Chechen Muslims - voted to declare Chechnya’s independence under the leadership of Russia’s Air Force hero, Gen. Dzhokhar Dudayev. In late 1994 Russian forces invaded and occupied the capital after killing over 100,000 civilians. In 1996, Dzhokhar Dudayev was martyred by a Russian missile. Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev succeeded him as president. The Russian army withrew, practically accepting defeat. In 1997, Aslan Mashkhadov, chief of Chechem Army was elected president of Republic of Ichkeria. In 1999, Russian army invaded Chechnya again. In 2003, an election was held under Russian occupation and Akhmad Kadyrov was declared ‘elected president’ by Moscow. Kadyrov was assassinated in 2004 and Moscow replaced him by Alu Alkhanov who resigned in 2007 - and was replace by Kadyrov’s son Ramzan Kadyro.

Chechen are practically fighting their Jihad without any help from the 57 Muslim nation states. Islamic Iran which has supported Bosnian Muslims during Serb-Croat invasion - and is now supporting HAMAs and Hizb’Allah against Israeli fascism - has not extended helping hand to Chechen Muslims due to its national interests in having friendly relations with Russia.

Kavkas Center

Russia without the Caucasus

The North Caucasus is the most problematic region of modern Russia, a tight cluster of political and economic contradictions. What the censored medium of Russian television shows, of course, is the "restoration of Chechnya", the "building of a peaceful life" and the last of the insurgents clumsily scrambling out of the bushes in order to receive amnesty from President Kadyrov. Reason, however, refuses to place any credence in this grand scenario - it doesn't look much like "law and order" when power in the republic is passed on by inheritance, and ex-terrorists form GRU military intelligence battalions armed to the teeth.

On the other hand, those who have access to sources of information other than TV may see a more truthful picture. The Caucasian feudal lords are constantly squabbling among themselves, and they have no qualms about resolving their differences by gunfights in the centre of Moscow. The Caucasian opposition politician ends his life thrown out of a police car with a bullet in his head, and Caucasian government ministers are killed at the hands of the spetsnaz. Not to mention all the abductions and murders that regularly take place in that part of the world.

It is also hard to avoid the realization that the Caucasus has already moved to us here in Central Russia, at least halfway. It has moved substantially, bringing with it all the features of its Caucasian identity such as the mandatory firing of pistols in the middle of the road (the so-called "Vainakh motor cavalcade").

So it may be time to wonder: what would be a real and effective resolution of the "Caucasus question"? Depending on whose interests are to be met, of course. Our approach to the matter is based on the primacy of the interests of the Russian nation. For this one needs to use some imagination and suppose that the Russian government acts not in the interests of the state corporations and a small number of well-known persons, but in the interests of the Russian nation itself, whose existence is still not written into the current constitution.

And viewed from such an angle, the solution is quite simple - the separation of the North Caucasus from Russia. The idea is not a new one. It traditionally causes hysterical protests at a certain end of the political spectrum. But time is passing, the inertia of thought is cracking under the pressure reasonable arguments. And this view is heard with increasing frequency in nationalist circles - especially among Russian national democrats, of whom I am one.

The root of the current problems must be sought in the past. A cursory examination of the history of Russian-Caucasian relations is sufficient to dispose of any illusions about what that relationship may become in the future. Is it possible for Russians and Caucasians to peacefully coexist in a single state? Alas, the history of Russian-Caucasian relations is one of constant wars, bloody rebellions, punitive expeditions and unceasing partisan strife.

It is quite possible that many modern Russian city dwellers do not care about that history - they were "pulled up by the roots" long ago. Though it could be argued that anyone who knows what happened to Chechnya's Russian population in the 1990s is unlikely to be indifferent to the topic of Russian-Caucasian relations.

But what about the "other side"? For the inhabitants of the North Caucasus the arrival of Russia was the most significant event in their history. It is considered that every self-respecting Vainakh needs to know several generations of his ancestors. Thus, every self-respecting Vainakh knows that his grandfather was deported, his great-grandfather fought the Russians, and his great-great-grandmother was burned alive together with the rest of the village. And there is not much one can do about it - after all, one can't forbid people to have a knowledge of their own history! And it is not so long ago that those who now teach that history were delivering ammunition to heir fathers and older brothers who were fighting the Russian troops.

So why does Russia keep these territories, which are a perpetual source of tension and crime? Why does Russia direct its resources there, resources that have been literally confiscated from the Russian regions?

For that there is no rational explanation. The main premise of Russian propaganda is founded on intimidation. If Russia withdraws from the Caucasus, the argument goes, there will be a Caliphate which will seize NATO's bases, start to launch attacks on Russia's borders, and then move into Russia altogether to take up permanent residence there.

What all these "scarecrows" have in common is not only that they are terribly far
from reality, but also that they do not take into account the possibility of economic, diplomatic and military influence on the adjacent territories. And those possibilities are very extensive - covering everything from air strikes to economic sanctions.

The real reasons for the retention of the Caucasus within Russia are, of course, different. And they come directly from the current "petroleum-fixated" Russian economy. Although Chechen oil is a mere drop in the ocean of Russia's overall oil reserves, it is still worth some money.

Does it really need pointing out that dubious "geopolitical interests" of this kind are important to Russia only in its present abnormal "commodity" phase? And that they will no longer be important if Russia is able to climb down from the notorious "oil spike"?

It should be noted that the idea of separating the North Caucasus from Russia enjoys much popularity among a fair proportion of Russians. Those political organizations which are afraid to suggest this option for fear of its unpopularity are definitely mistaken. According to the Levada Centre, in 2005 69 % of Russia's population expressed their support for the separation of Chechnya. A FOM poll of the same group found that 52 % had no confidence in the normalization of the situation in the republic. People are moved far more by the consideration of their own well-being and security than by the myths and tedious propaganda material they are fed from their television screens. And the more clearly we are aware of our of our own Russian interests, separating them from the interests of the business mafias, the officials and the state corporations, the closer we shall be to freeing ourselves of the Caucasus burden.
By Mikhail Pozharsky,
Source: Prague Watchdog
Kavkaz Center

Russia's 'highland customs'

The events in Ingushetia have once again raised a stir around the subject of highland customs - in this case, Chechen-Ingush ones. While among those who have been drawn into the discussion there are all kinds of would-be political analysts with only a superficial knowledge of the subject, the initiators of the debate have, of course, been the "natives" themselves. All week we have heard them talk about the need to combat the anti-government groupings which display these ritual behaviours. Although little attention has been focused on this, I can only assume that among the "customs" referred to they include the practice, now common in Chechnya, of burning the homes of insurgents, taking relatives hostage, compelling fathers and mothers publicly to repudiate their children, and when those children are killed, conducting a fanatical dance around their corpses, showing it all on television for greater effect - often for the eyes of the whole world. In addition to the horror of the events (of all kinds of conflict, civil war is the most senseless and ruthless) there is something else that grates on me: the consolidation of the Vainakhs' reputation as savages who don't deserve too be treated any other way.

I don't know about you, but I have never been a savage, and do not intend to become one. Nor is there anything savage about the people I habitually see around me. Their observance of Vainakh traditions does not make them the antithesis of civilization. Indeed, a distinguishing feature of our traditions is their universal character. They embrace the whole of human life. In my hands I have a book by the Chechen ethnographer Khozh-Akhmed Bersanov called Gillakkhiyn khazna - irsan nekash ( "A Treasury of Wisdom - The Path to Happiness"). In it the author has classified the Chechen traditions and their associated norms of behaviour in various life situations. There are chapters on how to talk to those older and younger than oneself, and how to stand and sit with them. There are separate chapters on marriage for men and women. Another chapter deals with learning, ability and experience. Courage, bravery and endurance are also discussed, of course. Where would we be without those? There are sections on leaders, and how they should behave with subordinates. And the author has not neglected to describe the rules that were established in the complex, sometimes bloody, confrontation with other peoples, calling for respect and tolerance towards them. I count a total of thirty-five chapters, and the book contains 220 pages. It is unlikely that the "analysts" referred to earlier are familiar with anything of this kind....

Although the book was published in Soviet times, before our hubristic dash for independence and the long retreat from there, it doesn't follow any particular party line, but merely shows that the norms of behaviour, the customs and traditions which were developed by the Chechens over the centuries and are still in use today have democratic roots and are aimed at inculcating a respect for human rights and the dignity of the individual.

One important marker is the blood feud, which in the Soviet Union was overcome in the process of the establishment of a non-kinship-based system of law. In Chechnya, however, the blood feud still exists, and there are several reasons for this. The first and most important one is the fact of our existence in a state whose system of values is founded on different criteria. In it, a man's life can be evaluated in terms of five, ten or fifteen years in prison. If the man who is killed is a member of a non-titular nation, the perpetrator may well be acquitted. Chechens believe that the price of a human life has not been set correctly...

The blood feud comes into effect only if the killing was pre-planned and brutal. In other cases it may not be so difficult to achieve reconciliation - "blood forgiveness". If the killing was unpremeditated it is all quite simple - the perpetrator is forced to pay a maximum of compensation.

There are restrictions which prevent the blood feud escalating into mere butchery. Women and children may not be touched (and this includes the taking of hostages in order to force the offender to give himself up), and homes are also protected. And there are special provisions for the treatment of the slain enemy: a funeral prayer must be said over him, he must be given a posture suitable for burial, placed on the funeral stretcher and taken to his family home to be consigned to the ground. Blowing up corpses, dragging them around villages, tying them to cars, cutting off parts of them, and so on - all this is forbidden. In other words, it is not permissible to mock the slain man. On the basis of this alone it can be confirmed that the methods that are used to combat the insurgents and claimed to be "local traditions" are neither Chechen nor local.

Of course, the book discusses a historical period that is now remote - the early twentieth century. But more recent history has seen no development of gentler manners. The Red Terror also ruthlessly executed hostages, created concentration camps like the Akmolinsk ALZhIR (for wives of "traitors to the Motherland") in Siberia, and terrorized the families of the insurgents in Western Ukraine and the Baltic States.

If in what is happening in the republic today (and it seems that there are also plans to export it elsewhere) there is some kind of tradition, it is certainly not a local one. It is a Russian tradition, continued with minor modifications from Imperial times through the Soviet period to the present day. The Chechens are not its bearers but its victims - even those Chechens who in public state the opposite. They would do well to read Khozh-Akhmed Bersanov's book.
Source: Prague Watchdog
Kavkaz Center