Counter-Terrorism: Defeat in the Caucasus

Archives

July 16, 2006: While the death of Chechen terrorist leader Shamil Basayev on July 10th has received considerable attention, it's also worth noting that perhaps as many as a dozen other people were killed with him. So far, no one in Russia has said anything officially about these people. There are, however, rumors that some of them were key players in the Chechen rebel movement. If that is so, their deaths, coupled with those of Basayev and of Abdul-Khalim Sadulayev, the rebel "president," less than a month ago, may have fatally weakened the rebel movement. Basayev was also the leader of the "Islamic" faction of the Chechen rebel movement. Most Chechens just want the Russians out, but Basayev hooked up with Islamic conservatives a decade ago. With money from Saudi Arabian religious charities, and terrorism advice from al Qaeda, Basayev sought to unite all the Moslem peoples of the Caucasus (over fifty different ethnic groups) into one Islamic republic. This was clearly impossible, but Basayev appealed to the wild-eyed minority in the region, and became the poster boy for sticking it to the Russians (who have dominated the region for two centuries.) But with Basayev and his key aides dead, yet another Caucasus resistance hero passes, and things will settle down until another one shows up in a generation or so.

 


Article Archive

Counter-Terrorism: Current 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 


X

ad
0
20

Help Keep Us Soaring

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling. We need your help in reversing that trend. We would like to add 20 new subscribers this month.

Each month we count on your subscriptions or contributions. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage. A contribution is not a donation that you can deduct at tax time, but a form of crowdfunding. We store none of your information when you contribute..
Subscribe   Contribute   Close