EDITORIAL: Chechnya II, The Wrath of Maskhadov

EDITORIAL

Chechnya II, The Wrath of Maskhadov

No, you can’t get away! From hell’s heart, I stab at thee! For hate’s sake, I spit my last breath at thee!

–Ricardo Montalban as Khan to William Shatner as Kirk in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” (1982)

The Wrath of Maskhadov

Just before he was killed in March 2005 by Russian security forces, Chechnya’s top warlord Aslan Maskhadov stated:  “Unless the war in Chechnya is stopped quickly, it will spread outwards.  In fact, it has been spreading for some time now. Today fighting can be seen in Daghestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Ossetia, Ingushetia, and Karachayevo-Cherkessia.”

Though Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has made claims to the contrary, the war was not stopped quickly, and it did spread — just as Maskhadov said it would.  Just as the killing of Said Buryatsky did not stop, but rather increased, terrorist activity in and around Moscow, the killing of Maskhadov did not quell, but rather expanded, secessionist activity in the Caucasus region.  Just as Obi Wan Kenobi only became more powerful when struck down by Darth Vader, Maskhadov has risen from the ashes to spit at Russia over and over again.  Surely, he is laughing with glee at the failed polices of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.

The New York Times reports:

Chechens must be Free

Writing on Market Oracle Eric Margolis, author and contributing foreign editor for Sun National Media Canada, writes that Chechnya must be free:

There is an old saying about the fierce Chechen tribes who inhabit southern Russia’s Caucasus mountains: “Chechen cannot ever be defeated. They can only be killed.”

Chechen are Russia’s nemesis. Even the notoriously brutal Russian mafia fears the ferocious Chechen, and for good reason.

Last year, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin proudly proclaimed that resistance to Russian rule in the North Caucasus had been eliminated. The region was pacified.

Confounding Putin’s claim, Chechen suicide bombers hit Moscow’s subway last week, killing 39 and injuring over 70. Chechen suicide bombers in Dagestan killed twelve, mostly policemen. There were further attacks in neighboring Dagestan. The North Caucasus was again at a boil.

The attacks seriously rattled Russians and left the Kremlin deeply embarrassed and enraged.

The Moscow Bombings: A Prelude to Russia’s Invasion of Georgia?

Frontpagemag reports (hat tip:  reader “Robert”):

The Chechen Islamist Doku Umarov has claimed responsibility for the March 29 subway bombings in Moscow that killed at least 40 people. Putin and the Russian government have vowed to hunt down those responsible for the attacks. The target of the beating of the war drums isn’t only Chechen Islamists, though. For months, Russian officials have been blaming Georgia for terrorist violence on their soil, setting the stage to remove the Saakashvili government and control Georgia.

In 2008, Russia went to war with Georgia under the pretext of protecting the Russian minority in the country from the aggressive Georgian military. The Russian forces took control of South Ossetia and Abkhazia using this excuse, and the two republics have since declared “independence” while remaining under Russian control. Since then, Russia has continually expressed opposition to the government of Mikheil Saakashvili and his removal is a clear goal.

CARTOON: Medvedev and his Little Friend

Source:  Ellustrator.