Basayev gives a calm and rational explanation of the Chechen war.
In the name of God, Most Benevolent, Most Merciful!
By the Mercy of Allah the past year of 2003 was very successful and very good year for us because for the past year our Mujahideen managed to inflict great damages on Kafirs and Munafiqs (hypocrites) and to deal crushing blows on the enemy. According to my information, for the year 2003 all Mujahideen in Chechnya and on the enemy soil have conducted over three thousand blasts, destroyed and disabled over 1,000 units of military vehicles including armored vehicles, shot down 31 helicopters, eliminated over 8,000 Kafirs and over 700 Munafiqs who cooperated with the invaders’ regime.
| "We're tearin' 'em up! There ain't nobody like us! We're Numbah One! We're Numbah One!" |
Praise Allah, this year was also marked by the expansion of the zone of combat operations and of the territories where the Jihad against aggressors is being conducted, as well as by the creation of new military sectors. For instance, the newly-created sectors are: the Ingush Sector, the Ossetian Sector, the Aukh Sector, the Stavropol Sector, and the Dagestani trend was activated as well. The Kafirs themselves had to admit that over the year 2003 they have suffered much greater casualties than they did in the previous two years.
| "We got lotsa cannon fodder, an' we got guns, an' we got ammunition! With that an' the Koran, we can do anything!" |
We are not fighting to intimidate anybody or to prove something to somebody, or to ruin somebody’s holiday or some other action. We are fighting for our Faith, for our Freedom and Independence. And whoever tries to present our fight as something like turf wars between ’bandit formations’ will not succeed and nothing will ever change. From the very beginning the leadership of Russia has set up the goal to turn this war into ’internal inter-Chechen war’, into an internal conflict. For these purposes Russians have been training and arming our homebred national traitors, who are getting away with anything today, because they are nothing but disposable material, which can be written off tomorrow once they get done with their dirty work. But they will never succeed in turning this war into a civil war, because a civil war can only take place between free people, and our national traitors are lackeys and toadies of the Kafirs, they are grovellers of the Russian invaders.
| "They ain't like us, by Gum! We grovel to no one. Except the Arab invaders. But that's different." |
Nothing changes if they are claiming to be ’Chechens’, - they are accomplices of the invaders. They were being punished, they are and they will be properly punished for their treason. This is a war between Russia and the Chechen State. Some are using the terms like ’the first war’, ’the second war’, ’the 400-year war’, but for us it is the everlasting war for our Freedom and Independence. And the main thing – this is the war for our Faith, which came from our fathers and our forefathers, and which we will be waging until we become masters of our own lives and our own destinies. I am hereby stating that whichever attempts the Kafirs would be making, nothing will stop this Jihad, which is becoming more and more active each day, because the dead and the wounded are being replaced by the new generation.
| "I mean, we got cannon fodder lined up as far as the eye can see, just waiting to stop a Russian bullet, to be maimed for life, to 'fall down the stairs' at a Russian prison!" |
InshaAllah, we have no problems with replenishing our forces. If Russia is degrading and dying out, the Chechen population is increasing in spite of the war, - and this is also a contribution of ordinary Chechens into the cause of Jihad.
| "I mean, our breeding stock is so hot, you show up wearing a turban and the pants come right off 'em. Nine months later y'got a replacement for a dead hero!" |
So, praise God, we have no problems with our fighters. Moscow is spreading a lot of propaganda about the acts by Brigade of Shaheeds Riyadus Salihiin. They are trying to accuse us of killing innocent people. But it is only another attempt of blatant lies.
| "There ain't nobody innocent as far as we're concerned!" |
They cannot be ’totally innocent’ for the simple fact that they are approving of this slaughter, financing it, electing the rulers that are publicly promising to deal with the Chechens, and conducting genocide on the Chechen land. Therefore we are accusing all of them of being accomplices in the genocide against the Chechen people.
| "That's right! All of 'em! An' we're gonna kill 'em all, too! Just you wait and see!" |
Last year relatives of the Nord-Ost hostages in the Moscow theater were trying to organize something like a rally, even though we did not really need it. About 50 people had gathered, and the Moscowers were just laughing at them. If Russists (Russian chauvinists) don’t like to be getting killed, it’s up to them, it’s their problem. Russia’s leadership handles the murder of their fellow Russian citizens pretty well. And we, InshaAllah, will make most of the efforts in this direction, because we are not going to let Russia’s bloody crimes go unpunished.
| "We'll show 'em what bloody crimes really are, by Gum!" |
We have been tolerating for a while and keeping Russian citizens away from the problems. Up until this day we have been letting Russia’s gravest crimes go unpunished. We have been deliberately keeping the war within our territories. Our patience was not appreciated. There is a limit to everything, and everything comes to an end sooner or later. Russia’s leadership, and Putin first of all, are sick people. Many people understand it, but nobody has the heart to say it. Putin is very sick. He is suffering paranoiac schizophrenia. But actually, when have normal people ever been in power in Russia? The past parliamentary elections have shown once again that there have always been nationalists, fascists and chauvinists in power in Russia. Whatever democratic forms the Russian empire would assume, it has always remained an empire; it has always remained a parasite, which needs blood and which can only exist on the blood of other nations.
| "Us Islamists are different! No nationalism for us! No chauvinism for us! No fascism for us! Instead, we bind together all the classes of society, rich and poor, workers, peasants, the artisans, the clergy, none of them powerful in themselves, into something stronger than any of them, bound together like... ummm... fasces by the ties of religion! Marching in serried ranks with Islamic discipline, we carry out the policies of The Leader and... ummm... oppose fascism. And irreligion and stuff, too." |
There was a time when the Kafirs were hoping that by killing the first President of CRI J. Dudayev they would be able to have something changed. But after President Dudayev became a Shaheed, the Jihad only increased and the Mujahideen got even stronger. Nothing will change if President Maskhadov, myself or any other leader becomes a Shaheed.
| "I might even shoot him myself, just to prove it!" |
Thank God, we are not afraid of death and we are not trying to escape it. But if Kafirs want me to die so bad, I can make them an offer: let them give me some more money, about 10-20 million more, and I will give that money to Maskhadov to continue the Jihad, and I myself will buy me a good KAMAZ truck and will drive right up to them. By Mercy of Allah we have gone through another year of the war. I am calling on the Mujahideen to get even more consolidated and unite around our leadership even firmer, to strengthen the discipline, to strengthen the Nizam, to be steadfast and patient. The victory is near! And may Allah help us on His Straight Way! Allah Akbar!
| Cut to sounds of marching feet... In the background, voices singing in Islamic unison: "Die Fahne hoch..." |
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