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Writer Sneaks into Chechnya
ONE MONTH AGO, I was in Grozny, the war-torn capital of the breakaway republic of Chechnya. To get there, I disguised myself as a Chechen woman in a headscarf and long skirt with the hope that I would pass through checkpoints without being discovered as an American.
Ya, I can see how getting caught as an American would get you in trouble, especially if you screw up Russian dipthongs while talking. Or maybe this is a self-hating American. Why the disguise? Maybe because the Chechen rebels would string her up if they caught her: a woman?!?
Having studied the Russo-Chechen conflict for a few years, I wanted to see for myself what life is like for ordinary civilians in Chechnya.
You are in the middle of a civil war thick with ethnic implications, and you want to know what life is like for the ordinary civilians? It’s crappy, and I have never been the Harvard OR Chechnya!
I imagined myself going as an outside observer, but once in Chechnya I found that I had stepped into Chechen shoes. Like every other civilian, I was vulnerable. This tiny place the size of Connecticut seems completely cut off and forgotten by the outside world. It is a place of total lawlessness, where men with guns rule and human life carries little value.
And we can lay the cause of these conditions firmly in the hands of the Chechens. What would she do in these circumstances? Open the border? Have border guards wave you on through because you have a smile? Remind her to have fun?
There are no human rights in Chechnya. One Grozny resident told me, "We don’t know if we’ll be alive tomorrow or even five minutes from now." Contrary to assertions by the Russian government that the situation is stabilizing ahead of the Kremlin-organized presidential election, on Oct. 5, my experience convinced me that life is not returning to normal at all. It is inconceivable that a fair election can take place in this climate of fear, where shooting and forced disappearances happen on a daily basis.
Boston Globe editors were asleep on editing this piece I guess. Anyway, this is symptomatic of liberal thinking: There are shootings on a daily basis everywhere in the world, yet, elections somehow are conducted and democracy goes on. Why does everyone but the Russians get a pass on this?
In the upcoming Bush-Putin summit, the reality of the crisis and the need for negotiations toward a genuine political solution must be made a priority.
Fact is that the Russian MOD knows well the reality of the crisis, being ass-deep in hostile Muslims, and are fighting for the survival of their people.
Civilians continue to be the main victims of this conflict.
Well... DUH!! But why lay it at the door of just the Russian government?
It is possible that as many as 200,000 people have been killed in the two Russo-Chechen wars combined;
I love this bit of propagandizing. Why not just say, in all honesty and candor you just don’t know how many dead? How many just left? But taking this bit of rhetoric to its logical extremem, as few as 200 people have been killed. This means of writing is a favorite amoungst leftists. It hides their ignorances right there along side their agenda and at the same time makes it look like they know what they are talking about. But they don’t. They don’t because the truth is not a liberal ally.
350,000 people have been displaced from their homes, many fleeing their villages after Russian soldiers conducted brutal "cleansing operations" and detained or killed villagers. I talked with internally displaced Chechens living in a camp in Ingushetia. They spoke about pressure from Russian and Ingush authorities, including threats that several camps will be closed by Oct. 1, presumably to force the internally displaced back into Chechnya in time for the presidential election. Many Chechens I spoke to believe that Akhmad Kadyrov or another leader hand-picked by the Kremlin will win. They see the election as little more than window dressing for the West. All the while, the military operation continues with 100,000 Russian troops fighting 2,000 to 3,000 Chechen guerrillas.
I fail to see the problem here. In one paragraph the writer bemoans that Russians will be breaking up refugee camps and forcing them back into Chechnya in time for elections, yet the next paragraphs she bemoans that a Russian may win the election. Oh, and this subject of the first sentance: Many. That can mean three out of ten have said that. We have no idea how many ’many’ is. To my mind, considering the obvious bias of the wriitng I bet she made the facts in this paragraph up.
I spent one night in a home on the outskirts of Grozny listening to machine-gun fire and explosions in the hills only a few miles away. I kept remembering the words of a resident, "Not a single night goes by without someone disappearing. Masked men come into homes and take people away." I wondered if I would see the morning. On my second day, I went with guides on a tour of Grozny. I concealed a video camera and filmed the ruins of the city, taking care not to catch the attention of soldiers or police. Every building bears the marks of bullets or gaping holes from aerial bombardment. Many buildings -- including high-rise apartments that once housed ordinary families -- have been completely leveled to piles of rubble. A handful of buildings associated with oil companies are undergoing renovation. The only building in good shape is the presidential palace.
Ahh, yes: oil companies. As if the Chechens muslims are noble folks and oil companies are behind the brutality of the war. A observation: Maybe the oil companies having buildings renovated IS in fact a sign that things will be returning to normal; that maybe Russia has the conflict in hand. Oil companies are notoriously tight-fisted with their money, and I strongly doubt they would be investing in Chechnya if they believed the war was still ongoing. The best tonic for a war torn region is investment in infrastructure: jobs and the attendent benefits. But no, liberals would rather see the war ongoing, as it befits how their world would be under their rule. Thanks for proving the Russian govenrment’s assertions that the war is in hand. I am certain you didn’t mean to.
Sorry about the length, but I had to get this shiney piece of shite in Rantburg
Posted by: Anonymous 2003-09-21
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=18924