Putin vows revenge for Chechen Bomb

Rock Climber

Chechen rebels have killed it's russian backed president in a Grozny bombing.
Story here and here
Analyists say, people on the ground now fear what this revenge may entail after a period of relative stability there.

However, there will be many who fear the Russian revenge - the prospect of security sweeps in which young Chechen men are routinely abused, or destructive attacks on mountain villages that rebels have been known to visit.

It's stories like these and the ongoing crisis in Iraq that make me think we did a good job in Northern Ireland, we talked.
Putin has force and might on his side, but is he going to talk or is he going to stoke the fire on this one?

mike65

Chechnya is Putins virility test, its the place he made his name and the Russians love (read need) a strong man.

I dont see the kind of negotiations seen in Norn Iron ever happening as Putins enemys' are barking mad and would sooner kill than cure I think.

Mike.

arcadegame2004

I think that Akmad Kadyrov was a true traitor whose death won't exactly be mourned by many Chechens. He was just a Putin-puppet. The election held to elect him as Chechen leader was condemned internationally as rigged - especially when you consider that almost all the other candidates were disqualified - making it effectively a one-horse race. I feel that the legitimate leader of Chechnya is Aslan Masckhadov, who was elected fair and square in multi-candidate elections. Kadyrov, according to Amnesty International and other human-rights groups, commanded a militia that was responsible for thousands of murders and "disappearances" of Chechen civilians. Kadyrov was Chechnya's answer to Marshal Petain and the Vichy regime in Nazi-occupied France, as far as I am concerned. The bombings in 1999 in St.Petersberg which were used as a pretext to invade Chechnya are not proven to have been carried out by the Chechens. As I recall, the Chechen President Aslan Masckhadov denied responsibility for them and also, an organisation of revolutionary-writers claimed responsibility. There is even speculation that Putin himself may have had a hand in those bombings - as a pretext to invade Chechnya and thererby increase his popularity prior to the then upcoming Russia Presidential elections. This theory is strengthened by the seizure of many copies of a book by a former FSB (the successor to the KGB) operative that claimed Putin had a hand in the bombing. The authorities cited "anti-Government propaganda" as justification for the seizures, but Western opinion would be shocked and appalled if something similar had happened here. It seems liek a cover-up to me. While I condemn the Moscow theatre-attacks by Chechens last year, I have to ask what does Moscow expect to happen? When you occupy a country against its will, this is historically the kind of response you invite. Look at Iraq, for example. May I also add that whereas bombings like this show us violence carried out by the Chechens, we should also bear in mind the violence that the international media is being prevented from seeing, that carrued out by the Russian military inside Chechnya. Amnesty International has reported that tens of thousands of Chechens have been slaughtered by the Russian military within Chechnya and buried in mass-graves. A few years ago, on NTV in Russia (since taken over by the State I wonder why!) video footage was shown of dead Chechen civilians with parts of their ears cut off and shot in the head. It is clear that whatever the Chechens are doing, the Russians are doing far worse. The establishment of a dictatorship in Chechnya i.e. a pro-Moscow puppet-government, should be seen as a symptom of a wider trend towards dictatorship in Russia as a whole, with the laws restricting freedom of the press, together with the virtual state-monopoly on the media via State-takeovers of most of the TV channels and press which give hardly any attention to the Opposition parties, as well as the recent law banning political-demonstrations being examples of this. The US should not let Russia exploit September 11th to try to portray the Chechen rebels as simply another example of terrorism. Yes, it may be true that Al-Qaeda is assisting Chechen-rebels. But when your back is to the wall you will accept help from almost anyone. It is time the West questioned the wisdom of continuing to give loans to Russia in the absence of an improvement in their human-rights record, especially in Chechnya. Western taxpayers do not want to be funding genocide by the Russian in Chechnya, and a BBC report some years ago implied that that is what Western loands are sponsoring, albeit unintended by Westerners.

Moriarty

Arcadegame2004, for the love of all thats right, could you please learn to use paragraphs?

arcadegame2004

Sorry Moriarty I will next time I usually do.

sceptre

(please - I actually can't read the above (sorry!, sanity). I tend to do the same thing but usually pop a few in after)