Chechnya - The Scoop

Forget oil, forget the mafiya, forget global strategy, forget islamic fundamentalists, forget all that strategic Trans Caucasian gobbledy gook. The war (s) in Chechnya are about Russia trying to hold on to the frayed tatters of their Soviet pipedream. Chechnya is just one of a cluster of tiny southern republics that don't want to be under the skirts of Mother Russia.

War has always been the way to keep Russians complaining about something other than the corrupt government. A bear looks pretty docile and weak when its hibernating so its better if it looks tough and pissed. It rears up and makes those nasty teeth. It used to growl at America but we kicked its teeth in. Then they growled at Afghanistan but it stepped on a trap. And now they are growling at Chechnya. But that growl doesn't have teeth or brains anymore. At press time it remains to be seen how bad a mauling the bear will get from the wolf packs. For now the Russians military contents itself with a sound and light killing show while hiding its true losses.

It took a while (four months) for Yeltsin backers to figure out that Putin needed something more than his lack of charisma to get elected. So voila. Nasty apartment bombings (engineering by the Putin's buds at the FSB), attacks on Dagestani villages and Basayev and his volunteers come running. So its Wag the Wolf: The Ultimate Election Blockbuster! Mug the Media: The Ultimate Horror Story! Both films are now playing in Chechnya. Ex-spy Putin took a page from ex-spy Bush and ex-caught-in-the-bush Clinton to create a media-blind election event. Smash the terrorists! (bomb the old people), Win the war! (lock up the journos), Conquer Chechnya! (stay out of the towns), War without Casualties! (burn them in piles) and so on.

For now, Chechnya is a nice place if you sell Grad Rockets and have one of those 50's era basements.

http://www.cdi.org/issues/Europe/ncaucasus.html