Balkanising Russia

by Jef Bossuyt

On October 7, Chechen President Maskhadov sent a letter to the NATO 
Secretary-General, George Robertson, calling on NATO "to intervene in 
accordance with the new world order established by NATO" (ORT TV-News, 
7/10/99 and "Newsline", 8/10/99).

In 1722 Czar Peter the Great incorporated Daghestan [and other nearby 
ethnic regions] into the Russian empire. Ever since Chechnya has been used 
as a crowbar to force a way into Russia from the south and to invade the 
country.

Following the Russian Revolution of 1917 and during the wars of 
intervention that followed, English and French warships disembarked troops 
in the Caucasian harbours of Sukhumi and Novorossisk. They were repelled 
and the Red Army was acclaimed as victors in Chechnya in 1920 (Le 
Monde Diplomatique, January 1995).

In 1942 the German Nazis occupied part of Chechnya. Many Chechens 
collaborated and joined German volunteer units, fighting the Red Army 
(Etudes Marxistes/Marxistische Studies, September 1996, p 125).

In 1989 the American press demanded that the Soviet Union be dissolved and 
opened up to the free market and Western multinationals. The first 
republics to secede were Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania and they received 
support from a General of Chechen origin, Diokhar Dudaev.

In August 1991, Dudaev supported Yeltsin's coup d'etat which brought an end 
to the Soviet Union. In December 1991 he proclaimed the independence of 
Chechnya and declared himself its President. 

Ever since the dissolution of the Soviet Union the Western powers have set 
out to break up the Russian state in order to secure their control of 
Eurasia.

The US strategist, Zbigniew Brzezinski, phrased it this way: "A more open 
Russian confederation, consisting of a European Russia, a Siberian 
republic, and a republic in the Far East, would speed up its development." 
(Zbigniew Bzezinski, The big chess-board, 1997, in Etudes 
Marxistes/Marxistische Studies, January 1999, p 124).

Chechnya no longer recognised the authority of Moscow and appropriated the 
petroleum transported through its territory. In December 1994 the first 
Chechen war left 70,000 victims. 

In April 1996 a Russian missile hit Diokhar Dudaev, while he was placing a 
satellite phone call. Elected as the new President in 1997, Aslan Maskadov 
signed an armistice with the Russian General Lebed.

In 1998 a group of Chechen war lords led by Shamil Basaev demanded that 
President Maskhadov resign, because of his conciliatory position towards 
Moscow.

In August 1999 the war lords, Basaev and Khatab, invaded the neighbouring 
Russian republic of Daghestan. They murdered police officers and hoisted 
the green flag of the "Islamic republic".

In the Russian cities of Moscow, Buynaksk and Volgodonsk bomb outrages 
killed 292 civilians in September. Russia imputed the bomb attacks to the 
Chechens and replied with mass retaliatory bombardments on Chechen villages 
as well as on the capital of Grozny. 

A Holy War for oil

The two thousand soldiers of Shamil Basaev who invaded Daghestan were 
remarkably professionally trained, supplied, and armed. They had at their 
disposal Stinger-2 rockets, reserved by NATO for its most loyal member 
states. It recalls the period when the CIA overtly supplied Stingers to the 
Afghan resistance opposing the Soviet troops.

The money appears to have come from the pro-Western regimes of the Arab oil 
countries. General Khatab originates from Jordan, where he organised King 
Hussain's Chechen body-guard.

The invasion has allegedly been sponsored with US$20 million from Jordan. 
According to the Italian newspaper La Republica one of the 
financiers of Shamil Basaev's troops is the Saudi oil billionaire, Bin 
Laden.

"His favourite residence is Afghanistan. However, his contacts with the 
Chechen war lords date from 1997. In February the World Front of the Jihad 
was raised in Pakistan with the help of Bin Laden. It supports the armed 
rebellions in Tadjikistan, Uzbekistan, Daghestan, and Chechnia."(La 
Republica 10/9/99)

In Afghanistan Bin Laden had fulfilled the role of ally for the United 
States against the Russians. Meanwhile however he became a nuisance and was 
chased ... to Chechnya.

"His position", La Republica writes, "has become more and more 
difficult in Afghanistan. The US has decided to use every means, including 
diplomatic, to exert pressure on Pakistan and force the Taliban to 
extradite him.

"The Afghan soil became too hot for him and he would have chosen Chechnya 
as a safer haven. The Russians have no say in the matter and the US won't 
bombard him as it is Russian territory."

The Chechen war lords declared as their objective "to establish a Muslim 
state and to chase the Russians from the Caucasus".

This objective perfectly fits the scheme of the American and European oil 
multinationals. They want to control the petroleum fields and oil pipe-
lines in the Caucasus and eliminate the pipe-lines on Russian territory.

All oil would then have to be transported through Georgia or Turkey, two 
states controlled by the US.

The import of petroleum to Russia does not necessarily have to run through 
Chechnya. For a long time Russia has been planning an alternative pipe-line 
through Daghestan to the east.

Since Basaev invaded Daghestan last August, not a single petroleum company 
intends to invest a cent there.]

Karachay-Cherkess

Chechnya could also be bypassed to the west by means of a pipe-line through 
Karachay-Cherkess. Is it a coincidence that there also a separatist 
movement blazed up?

According to the historian Rachid Khatuev, the first aim of the secession 
is control over the Baku-Novorossisk oil pipe-line.

During the elections in Cherkess even the Prince of Jordan came, Ali Ben 
Hussain, the brother of King Hassan. He called for a vote for the 
separatists.

Azerbaijan

The oil state of Azerbaijan has tried to reconquer Nagorno-Karabakh, 
officially belonging to Azerbaijan but being occupied by militias of the 
Armenian population. Russia supplies arms to Armenia.

On June 17 the Azerbaijani Minister of Defence Safar Abijev asked that 
"NATO be involved in solving the conflict".

Earlier an Azerbaijani spokesmen proposed to NATO that it set up a military 
base there and Azerbaijan has suggested that its soldiers participate in 
manoeuvres in Canada within the framework of NATO's "Partnership for 
Peace".

Afghanistan

From 1979 to 1989 a guerilla war was waged against the Soviet troops 
occupying Afghanistan. The insurgents were armed by the United States with 
Stinger rockets and financed by the Saudi wealth of Ben Laden 
(www.stratfor.com, 12/10/99).

The US and Saudi-Arabia supported the Taliban operating from Pakistan 
(Le Monde 8/10/96). In October 1996 the Taliban captured the capital 
Kabul and Ben Laden became a national hero. The Taliban then advanced on 
the north and now threaten the neighbouring country of Uzbekistan.

Tadjikistan

In 1992 the Islamic Party of the Resurrection seized power. They were 
supported from Iran, where the same language is spoken.

Furthermore, there were ties with the secessionist movements in the Baltic 
states and support was received from "democrats" such as Yeltsin.

However, Kolkhoz farmers rose in armed revolt and brought President 
Rakhmonov to power. The Islamic opposition fled to Afghanistan. Later on 
they returned, "now sponsored by Pakistan, in neat American uniforms, with 
Stingers and night watchers, Motorola radio stations and jeeps" (Alexander 
Sivov, eye-witness account in "Patriot").

A bloody civil war followed, causing 200,000 victims and 500,000 refugees. 
In June 1997 Rakhmonov conceded one third of the ministerial offices to the 
Muslim opposition.

The country has since become a focus of unrest for its neighbours. The 
Russian border units appear to be incapable of stopping infiltrations.

The Group of Shanghai

In response to the offensive to surround and break up Russia from the 
south, new alliances are being drawn. The "Three" (China, Russia, and 
India) are lining up against the "Seven" (the G-7). China realises that if 
the West succeeds in carving up Russia, China becomes the next target.

Among the Uigur population of China agitation is rising in favour of an 
"own, independent, and Islamic" state of Turkestan in Central Asia.

India, traditionally an ally of Russia, fights a conflict with Pakistan 
concerning Kashmir.

The "Three" and their allies

On August 25 the fifth summit of the "Group of Shanghai" took place in 
Kirghizia, comprising the Presidents of China, Russia, Kazakhstan, 
Kirghizia, and Tadjikistan. They discussed the question of terrorism in 
their respective countries.

They objected to "the pretext of human rights to intervene in the internal 
affairs of other countries" and pleaded the cause of a "multi-polar world".

This clearly means: against a world dominated by NATO. The alliance was 
sealed by the sale of Russian C-30 jet-fighters to China.

The "Seven"

The "Seven", comprising the NATO countries, are seeking support points for 
their offensive in the region. Turkey counts Georgia and Azerbaijan among 
its sphere of influence while Afghanistan and Pakistan are a base for the 
Muslim war lords, who are to "chase the Russians from the Caucasus". And 
obviously, Chechnya.

In a declaration the Russian Communist Workers' Party said that Chechen 
terrorism is being caused by Yeltsinism.

"A series of terrorist outrages started with the explosion in the 
commercial centre of Moscow. It continued with explosions in the Russian 
cities of Buynaksk, Moscow, and Volgodonsk. It merely announces the 
escalation of what has been developing in Russia and the former Soviet 
republics for a long time.

"A new feature is the fact that civil wars and bloody violence used to take 
place at the borders of Russia only, but now spill over to the capital.

"The real reason for these events is the destruction of the socialist 
society. Before, power and law were directed towards the equality of people 
on a social and national level. However, at present, a society is being 
built on the basis of overt inequality and property.

"This has invoked the meanest tendencies among people, a cruel power 
struggle, the separatism of national elites and, centrally, the principle 
of `divide and conquer'.

"In all conflicts opposing civilians and nationalities in the former Soviet 
Union the currently ruling regimes of the Commonwealth of Independent 
States are guilty. Mainly culpable is the clique of Yeltsin and his Western 
sponsors.

"It has been known for a long time that the best friends of the Russian 
"democrats", the United States of America, makes plans to dismantle, after 
the Soviet Union, Russia as well.

"In this they attach an important role to the region of the Caucasus as 
well as to the Islamic factor. The US attempts to divert the Muslim 
terrorists from American imperialism and direct them against Russia.

"The motives of the Kremlin and the Chechen rulers are identical. They 
hunger for power and profits and are afraid to take responsibility for 
their actions. The shelling of the parliament building by Yeltsin in 
October 1993 was a no less shameful and grievous crime than blowing up 
residential areas."

In order to answer the question, "Who benefits from this?", one has to 
start from the following remarkable results.

Firstly, attention is diverted from the social problems and the regression 
the Russian people now suffer. These have caused millions of victims 
already and will cause many more. Attention is diverted from the scandals 
and financial affairs in which high-ranking officials are involved.

Secondly, tension and fear are created in society. This tension serves to 
consolidate society around the current regime, which pretends to fight 
terrorism.

Thirdly, the repellant image of the "terrorist-extremists" is impressed 
into social conscience. The horror of such figures is easily transmitted by 
the media to political opponents who assume a radical position, in 
particular, the communists.

Fourthly, it creates the conditions for martial law by which to suppress 
the opposition.

The origin of these bloody tragedies is the ruling regime and its policy of 
restoring capitalism in Russia. To stop the tragedy the power of the anti-
popular forces has to be broken at all levels, from Yeltsin to Maskhadov. 
The workers have to re-establish the real power of the people in the shape 
of Soviets (Trudovaya Rossia 23/9/99).

* * *

Acknowledgement to Solidaire Workers' Party of Belgium. 
Abridged.