Russia: January 11, 2003

Archives

The fighting in Chechnya has been brutal by Western standards, but not according to the way Chechens and Russians have fought each other for over two centuries. But times change, and so far 46 Russian soldiers have been convicted of brutal acts in Chechnya. Eleven were convicted of murder and 13 for rape. While many Chechens are willing to remain part of Russia, in return for the same kind of autonomy enjoyed by other ethnic regions, a significant minority of the population is determined to fight on. This has occurred in the past, and in those cases the problem was resolved by killing or driving into exile all the rebels. This is less likely to work this time because the Chechen rebels have joined the al Qaeda network, providing them with a base of support for continued terror operations.

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contribute. 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.
Subscribe   contribute   Close