Chechnya's Finest Hour
With the fury of the Russian armed forces turned against it, Chechnya remains defiant. Three months of round-the-clock bombardment has failed to bring the little North Caucasian republic to its knees. Death and destruction has not weakened the Chechen resolve. Rarely in history has a nation shown such a desperate longing for freedom. This is not an anti-terrorist operation on Moscow's part; nothing remotely like it. The issues at stake are deeper, more fundamental. The Russian objective was made clear at the outset by Prime Minister (now Acting President) Vladimir Putin. The goal, he said, was to reassert federal control over Chechnya. And, he might have added, to ride a wave of popular support into the Kremlin.
On the Chechen side, also, President Aslan Maskhadov has made his position clear. Regardless of what the Russians may do, and regardless of what the West may say, Chchnya will not let itself be forced back into a federation it has no wish to be part of. In a New Year's Eve radio address, he told his people: "Our guerrilla war has begun. We sometimes let the Russians in; then we cut them off and destroy them. We have the trophies - tanks and ammunition - to prove it. The Russians will never win. And none of them is safe. We will exterminate them."
The Chechens are not given to empty rhetoric. They proved that in the last war. And very recently, Chechen fighters underscored their president's words by staging lightning raids on three occupied towns, Argun, Gudermes and Shali. Wresting control, they held the positions for three days before withdrawing to their mountain bases. It was a moment of truth for Russian generals, who had promised their people an 'early victory.'
Bombs, lies and videotape
The rhetoric so far has all been on the Russian side. This was to be the Great War that would reaffirm Russian manhood. By pummeling tiny Chechnya Russia would show the world that it was still a power to be reckoned with. Mr Putin talked about reclaiming 'lost glory'. His generals boasted of the power and precision of their attacks. Government ministers bragged about the 'powerful weapons' they were unleashing, including 'vacuum bombs'. The federal army was beating the daylights out of the 'bandits' while losing very few of its own men. Grozny would fall within days; the Russian flag would fly over Chechnya within a month, and so on. Russian leaders bristled with indignation at the West's interference in Russia's internal affairs. The Americans should shut up and let them finish the job. After all, Russia was cleaning up a nest of Islamic terrorists and the West should be grateful! In fact, so preoccupied were they in their war of words with the Americans and Europeans that they almost discounted the Chechens. They were brought down to earth the week before the last. Chechen spokesman Mohammad Saidullayev said with quiet humor, "We planned the raids after Moscow announced that they controlled 80 per cent of Chechnya. We wanted to demonstrate how hollow their control is."
One of the smartest moves Putin made at the beginning of the war was to get a stranglehold on the flow of information. The Russian media has toed the government line and churned out jingoistic propaganda, highlighting successes and concealing losses. This has ensured public support for Putin and his campaign. But now some of the truth may be coming out. Last week, Russians saw footage of their army exchanging bodies with Chechen guerrillas. NTV, the main commercial channel, broadcast interviews with soldiers who said many of their comrades had died in the fighting. These images have shattered the carefully fostered illusion that this has been a 'clean' campaign as far as Russian casualties are concerned.
Brutal tactics
Clean is just what this war hasn't been. From the beginning, Russia has deliberately flouted the norms of war. In 1994-96 they kept up a semblance of attacking military targets. This time they've dropped that pretence. Unable to pin down the highly mobile Chechen units, and, indeed, wary of engaging them, the Russian army has turned its guns on the civilian population. Their strategy is simple and brutal. Towns and villages are to be bombarded until they are free of rebel fighters, or completely destroyed. In most of the towns seized by Russian troops in the first three months - Urus Martan, Argun, and Bamut - the Chechen army withdrew to spare the civilian population further suffering.
The Russian leadership has been boasting about the 'powerful weapons' they are using in Chechnya. These include the 'Grad' multiple rocket launcher, notoriously inaccurate but capable of causing immense destruction, and the 'vacuum bomb'. Military analysts have called the latter the most destructive weapon short of a nuclear bomb. It creates a huge blast that incinerates buildings and at the same time sucks in air, leaving a gigantic vacuum. Living things within a wide radius suffocate to death.
Vladimir Putin has sent alarm bells ringing when he announced a relaxation of the criteria for the use of nuclear weapons. The policy statement said that Russia would be willing to use nuclear weapons if conventional means 'failed to repel aggression'. The world must be vigilant against the possibility that the Russians, desperate to avoid another humiliation in Chechnya, might do the unthinkable and detonate a nuclear warhead.
Whither UN, OIC?
The international community's response to the Russian actions has been inadequate. Surprisingly, the United States has said it recognizes Russia's right to go after terrorists although it regrets the use of excessive force. This position is clearly indefensible. Even if terrorist groups are operating on Chechen territory - as Moscow claims - does this justify the army's actions in any way? Would it be all right for Britain to bomb Belfast in order to subdue the IRA? Moscow is trampling on all the principles that the West claims to stand for - freedom, human rights, and democracy. The Russian decision to consider every Chechen male between ten and sixty as a potential enemy shows the scant regard it has for basic human rights. After the rebel offensive in Shali, Russian troops burnt civilians alive in their cellars as they hunted for rebels. Yet, in spite of all the evidence, the Western governments are having difficulty calling a spade a spade. The OIC's silence is even more shameful.
Fortunately, smaller, independent voices are making themselves heard. Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders), the humanitarian group that won the Nobel peace prize last year, has condemned Russian actions and said that they amounted to war crimes. Breaking its customary code of silence, MSF wrote an open letter to President Clinton, calling for greater pressure to be put on Moscow. It was backed up by Human Rights Watch. And last but not least, a voice from within Russia, the Human Rights Commissioner Oleg Mironov who has told PM Putin that the federal troops have failed to respect the basic rights of the Chechen population. Mironov also alleged that the government was projecting a distorted picture of the war and that the relatives of dead soldiers were not being notified fast enough.
The Chechens are a pragmatic people. They don't expect any white knights to come to their rescue with blazing guns. In 1996 they trounced the Russians without outside help. They will be trying - and praying - for a repeat performance. Their aim will be to outlast the Russians in a war of attrition. It is well known that bullies like to inflict pain, not to feel it. And the best way to deter a bully is to give him a bloody nose. If recent events are anything to go by, Russia may soon regret poking its nose into Chechnya.
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