"Chechnya - What drives the separatists to commit such terrible outrages?"
Timely, informative article in light of the recent events in Russia. Claims that Chechens are terrorists of the same kind as, or cooperate with, al-Qa'ida appear not as straightforward as Vladimir Putin would have one believe.
Excerpts:
As many as 600 people, many of them children, are dead, and hundreds more are injured. The two-day hostage crisis that ended in an 11-hour gunfight is the most horrific in a harrowing chain of terrorist attacks in Russia. Russian officials are saying al-Qaida did it. But the truth is far more complicated. ...
The Russian Constitution recognizes the right of federation members to secede—and Chechnya tried to claim this right. ...
The Chechens' desire was perfectly understandable. ... In 1944, the Chechens, along with several other ethnic groups, were accused of having collaborated with the Nazis and deported to Siberia. Their collective guilt established by the order of Stalin, ... [a]s many as half died en route, and uncounted others perished in the harsh Siberian winter; the exiles were literally dumped in the open snowy fields and left to fend for themselves.
The Chechens were not allowed to return home until 1976. So by the time of perestroika, virtually all Chechen adults were people born in Siberian exile. No wonder they didn't want to live side by side with the Russians.... The last straw came in August 1991, when ... rumors spread that another deportation was in the works. Chechens overthrew their local, Soviet-appointed leader, and elected a new president on a nationalist platform.
Russia had no intention of recognizing Chechen independence. ... Granting independence to one region could set off a chain reaction. What's more, an oil pipeline went through Chechnya, and a small amount of oil was produced in the republic itself.... President Boris Yeltsin declined even to negotiate with the Chechen separatists ... and simply let the problem fester for three years.
Excerpts:
As many as 600 people, many of them children, are dead, and hundreds more are injured. The two-day hostage crisis that ended in an 11-hour gunfight is the most horrific in a harrowing chain of terrorist attacks in Russia. Russian officials are saying al-Qaida did it. But the truth is far more complicated. ...
The Russian Constitution recognizes the right of federation members to secede—and Chechnya tried to claim this right. ...
The Chechens' desire was perfectly understandable. ... In 1944, the Chechens, along with several other ethnic groups, were accused of having collaborated with the Nazis and deported to Siberia. Their collective guilt established by the order of Stalin, ... [a]s many as half died en route, and uncounted others perished in the harsh Siberian winter; the exiles were literally dumped in the open snowy fields and left to fend for themselves.
The Chechens were not allowed to return home until 1976. So by the time of perestroika, virtually all Chechen adults were people born in Siberian exile. No wonder they didn't want to live side by side with the Russians.... The last straw came in August 1991, when ... rumors spread that another deportation was in the works. Chechens overthrew their local, Soviet-appointed leader, and elected a new president on a nationalist platform.
Russia had no intention of recognizing Chechen independence. ... Granting independence to one region could set off a chain reaction. What's more, an oil pipeline went through Chechnya, and a small amount of oil was produced in the republic itself.... President Boris Yeltsin declined even to negotiate with the Chechen separatists ... and simply let the problem fester for three years.
// 9/05/2004 
