Alvarez's Political History Lesson: Chechnya

[Alvarez]

In light of the knowledge that the two Boston Bombing suspects are ethnic Chechens, I saw it as my responsibility to educate some of you on Chechnya and its recent wars. I know this is too much to cover in a forum, and many of you have questions, so feel free also to ask. I just wanted to give a quick reference of these conflicts so that some of you may gain a basic knowledge of what has gone on / is going on over there.

Chechnya lies in the heart of the North Caucasus. It is a predominantly Muslim autonomous region within the Russian Federation.

You may have heard of "Chechnya" in the last week, as news continues to pour out regarding "The Brothers Tsarnaev" -- Boston's suspected terrorists. What you MAY NOT know is that, like the Irish Republican Army, Chechen "terrorists" were once seen in a MUCH different light by Americans and the American government. Once described as "rebels", "freedom fighters", and "revolutionaries", Chechen militants have always appealed to the American people's "GOOD side" for the way they acted as a thorn in Russia's paw. They were once seen as proxy allies in a new Cold War against the Russian Federation. This reputation began with their initial claim of independence from the Soviet Union in 1991...

THE FIRST CHECHEN WAR

On September 6, 1991, the military wing of the All-National Congress of the Chechen People stormed a Soviet government session. Their aim was to declare independence from the Soviet Union by force. During the assault, the the Chechen head of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was killed. The Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Republic of the Soviet Union became Chechnya and Ingushetia, respectively. Dzokhar Dudayev -- after whom one of the Tsarnaev brothers was named -- was made President of Chechnya, and he subsequently declared independence from the Soviet Union. Ingushetia eventually chose to remain a part of Russia.

In November of 1991, Boris Yeltsin dispatched Internal Troops to Grozny, the capital of Chechnya. These men were eventually surrounded by Dudayev's forces, and withdrew from the area. By 1993, Chechnya had formed a government and declared FULL independence from Moscow as the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria.

After power struggles between Chechen President Dudayev and Chechen opposition, the opposition called upon Moscow for help. The Russians complied, and during the early 90's provided the opposition with money, weapons, training, and fighters. Once in October 1994, and again in late November, the Russian-supplied opposition tried and failed to wrest Grozny from Dudayev's control.

On November 29th, 1994, Russian President Boris Yeltsin issued an ultimatum to the warring Chechen factions: Disarm and surrender, or face the Russian Army. The government in Grozny refused, and the First Chechen War was underway by December 1994.

Yeltsin's mostly-conscripted army was neither trained nor prepared for the conflict that ensued. As Russian atrocities against the Chechen people mounted, the Chechen separatists slowly began to radicalize -- committing war crimes of their own. As they had in Bosnia and Afghanistan, Al-Qaeda began to take interest in the conflict in Chechnya. Seeing an opportunity to gain a foothold in the Caucasus, foreign Mujahideen began to flock to Chechnya "for jihad" against the Russians.

Two years after the war began, the Khasav-Yurt Accord was signed by both sides, effectively ending the primary conflict. By December of 1996, the last of Yeltsin's troops had withdrawn from Chechnya, and much had been left to negotiate between the two: A stipulation within the Accord meant that an agreement on relations between Grozny and Moscow need not be signed until 2001... The "Moscow Peace Treaty", however, was eventually signed in 1997.

THE SECOND CHECHEN WAR

In 1999, two Islamist commanders from the First War -- Shamil Basayev [Chechen], and Amir al-Khattab [saudi] -- launched an invasion of Dagestan, a Republic neighboring Chechnya. Several Russian conscripts were killed in a shootout, and six survivors were promised POW status by the advancing Mujahideen. The conscripts were arrested, laid on the road, and partially beheaded on camera. This incident came to identify the slain Russians as "The Dagestan Six".

On August 26, 1999, Vladimir Putin's Russia responded by invading Chechnya. The Second Chechen War was underway.

Basayev and al-Khattab were eventually driven out of Dagestan and back into Chechnya. Putin's Army pursued, and the conflict extended for 10 years. During the war, Chechen Islamists operated INSIDE of the Russian Federation, committing bombings, hostage-takings, and assassinations. Meanwhile, Russian security forces retaliated inside of Chechnya. For an entire decade, the war devolved into a tit-for-tat terrorist campaign for both sides. With every passing year, the Chechens radicalized more, and the Russians retaliated with MORE brutality.

In April of 2009, Putin's campaign in Chechnya was declared over. Now a part of the Russian Federation again, Chechnya and Dagestan still deal with an Islamist insurgency. MOST of the attacks against the Russian government, however, take place deeper within Russia.

While Chechen Mujahideen have been recently reported fighting as far away as Libya, Syria, and Afghanistan, it is believed that those fighters are part of the "Global Jihad" movement, rather than Chechen Separatists. The average Chechen has NO quarrels with the United States, actually it has long been speculated that it was the U.S. who provided Chechen fighters and foreign "Muj" with weapons and money when others would not.

Edited April 21, 2013 by Alvarez 1st MRB

[C. Small 1st MRB]

Pretty interesting , didn't know most of this stuff , thanks for this buddy

[Alvarez]

*UPDATE*

A statement was released by rebels in Russia's North Caucasus region, who denied any link to the April 15 attack on the Boston Marathon [vdagestan.com]:

"The Caucasian Mujahedeen are not fighting with the United States of America," according to the statement, which was attributed to unidentified Mujahedeen commanders in Dagestan. "We are at war with Russia, which is responsible not only for the occupation of the Caucasus, but also for heinous crimes against Muslims."

Again, in my opinion it is important to make the distinction between Chechen separatists, who fight against Russia IN the Caucasus, and Chechen Jihadists, who fight foreign powers ABROAD [Ghaddafi in Libya, Al-Assad in Syria, Kharzai in Afghanistan].

[Perrone]

Alvarez, you forgot to mention that the Russians have assassinated every president of the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria. Which is one of the reasons why the separatists became more and more radical.

[Captain Giraffe BAR]

Here's a bit of background on Stalin's history with the Chechens and part of why they hate Russia so much.

Russians hate them for terrorist attacks such as the Beslan school massacre in which more than three hundred people were killed by Chechen and Ingush terrorists, including more than one hundred children. Both sides have committed atrocities.