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At Large

Chechens and Chickens

By on 7.31.09 @ 6:07AM

It was suggested after the initial relatively mild American response to the Tehran demonstrations, one of the key elements of the current Washington administration's foreign policy was to ignore or downplay certain events in hopes that such a pretense would lessen the potential American involvement in difficult international matters.

The lack of a firm diplomatic reaction by the White House to the recent kidnapping and assassination of the well-known Chechen human rights activist, Natalia Estemirova, apparently is another example of this calculated effort (other than VP Biden's personal gaffes) not to disturb the status quo with strategic nations. This is as opposed to Hillary Clinton's specific reference to the trial of the political celebrity, Aung San Suu Kyi, of strategically less important Burma.

Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor, thought the Chechen crime so important she brought up the issue directly with Russia's president, Dmitry Medvedev, during his recent visit to Germany. Medvedev was forced to publicly acknowledge the problem that he previously had dismissed as simply another incident in a recent spate of violence in the North Caucasus.

Whether Washington is willing to admit it or not, the murder of the internationally acclaimed Estemirova, who had been a close friend of the famous journalist Anna Politkovskaya, also a murder victim (Moscow, 2006), is a symptom of the brutal suppression of dissent that exists in Russia's mountainous regions of Chechnya, Ingushetia, and Dagestan. Vladimir Putin for years has been particularly sensitive to any outside interest in the rebellious activities of the people of these areas. He apparently made that clear to President Obama during the latter's recent Moscow trip.

The problems of the North Caucasus, and Chechnya in particular, go back many years. This predominantly Moslem area of Russia was in support of the Bolshevik Revolution from the beginning. Chechen nationalists saw as very enticing the early communist propaganda rhetoric of respect for ethnic identity, religious tolerance, and cultural independence.

By the time Stalin took control, however, these revolutionary slogans had been abandoned by the Kremlin and Russian domination was in full sway. Most importantly, the preservation of Arabic as a principal lingua franca had become characterized as "old regime." That act, along with its anti-Islamic connotation, appears to have become the early touchstone of modern Chechen rebellion.

Moscow in recent years doesn't seem to be able to control its own appointed Chechen politicians, who find excess to be their only means of governance. In his best Machiavellian manner, Putin guided the presidential appointment of Ramzan Kadyrov, son of a former Chechen puppet president who had defected from rebel ranks. Kadyrov has introduced new internal security mechanisms such as roving bands of loyalists to act as law enforcement deputies. These brutal paramilitary squads have earned their own name: "Kadyrovsty."

The Russian action against Georgia last summer actually spurred a renewal of fighting against Russian authority in Chechnya's neighboring Caucasus regions of Ingushetia and Dagestan. In truth, local outbreaks in all three of these states are virtually the norm. A leader is caught, imprisoned, or killed, and another rises to take his place. Going back to the Czars and before, each outside authority has been challenged. These mountain warrior people have a lust for independence in their DNA. The Russians see it as criminality.

The Kremlin is always hard-pressed to find a Chechen leader who has the toughness to take on the job of controlling that state. After the Merkel chiding Medvedev finally took a strong pro-justice position through vigorous lip service condemning the killing of Natalia Estemirova. This has allowed the Chechen president to assume the same righteous indignation and present his own solid pro-law and order position -- while the actual perpetrators are never uncovered.

The human rights organization "Memorial" has openly charged Kadyrov with complicity in the kidnapping and shooting of Estemirova. The head of "Memorial" has said he is standing by his clams against the Chechen president. In turn Kadyrov has announced he is going to sue the human rights organization and its head over the public statements.

The preponderance of publicly known evidence points to involvement of some element of the Kadyrov-controlled security service, but those facts are not expected to make it to court. More likely will be an official whitewash with full Moscow support -- and Washington silence.

One thing that can not be denied is that the opponents of the Kremlin-backed Kadyrov government tend to end up dead. In addition to Natalia Estemirova's recent killing this July, there were two other government opponents assassinated in March -- one in Vienna, the other in Dubai. Apparently under the self-characterized "progressive" Washington administration, human rights is a matter of political selectivity.

Letter to the Editor

George H. Wittman is a member of the Committee on the Present Danger and the founding chairman of the National Institute for Public Policy.

Comments

macdaddy| 7.31.09 @ 8:27AM

Mr. Wittman entirely misses the point. Obama is going to heal the planet. The old ideologies are but road-blocks to a greater future. Human rights are one of those old ideologies. And besides, it's George Bush's fault.

Tim| 7.31.09 @ 8:39AM

At a recent press conference Russian PM Vladimir Putin remarked that : "Chechen security forces acted stupidly..."

Pittsburgh Pete| 7.31.09 @ 8:53AM

Keep it up Mr. Whitman. President Obama, it is now clear to all, is a child playing at the most adult of games. Only voices like yours can provide at least a chance of the administration growing up to its responsibilities.

Jack Frost| 7.31.09 @ 10:15AM

Mr. Obama is in way over his head when it comes to foreign affairs. It is probably for the best that he refrains from commenting on international affairs, for when he does, he just makes the U.S look like idiots because he has no idea what he's talking about.

Mark Berlinger| 8.1.09 @ 1:32PM

From the Kavkazcenter.com a news and propaganda site of the mujahideen, fighters for an Islamic world, which announces the obligation and virtue of jihad to all...

These armies [in muslim lands] are blocking each and every attempt to re-establish Khilafah and Islamic law. They stand against those who want to establish Islam through Jihad and they even stand in front of those who seek to reach government through peaceful means as what happened in Algeria in the past.

In other words, there can be no Islam with the presence of these armies.

The Islamic rule states that whatever is needed to establish an obligation becomes an obligation.

Establishing Islamic sharia is an obligation, and fighting in the cause of Allah is an obligation, and if that cannot be achieved except by fighting against these armies then that becomes an obligation.

These armies are the defenders of apostasy in the Muslim world. They fight against Sharia and kill the Muslims who attempt to bring it back.

They are fighting on behalf of America against the Mujahideen in Pakistan, Somalia and the Maghrib.

...To the faithful muslim and the mujahideen, the world only has two parts. The first part, called Dar al-Harb, is always at war with the kufar (infidels). The second part is the conquered territory called Dar al-Islam (under submission). Mr. Whittman, writes that the Obama administration is cause selective; but the author is ignorant of the transcendent situation. After centuries of warfare and siege, Constantinople falls to the muslim Turks in 1453. Russia, successor to Rome and Constantinople (Ivan the Great weds Sophia), along with the Balkans, Romania, Poland, Hungary and Austria, has resisted muslim invasion. In Andalusia, muslim hegemony lasted from 711 to 1492. This war continues even today.

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