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Chechen Roulette for Peace
By Dariya Fadeeva, Russia
Although the terrorist attack in Sept. 2004 still gives me nightmares of masked Chechen terrorists attacking innocent children and their parents, I will forever be proud of the fact that the people of Beslan (Russia) did not retaliate against Chechnya.
"While my generation doesn’t really know much about the history behind Chechnya’s conflict with Russia, we tend to see the past through the prism of our own experience." -Dariya Fadeeva
Presumably, the terrorists attacked my village in Beslan to remind the people of Russia (in particular our leaders) that Chechens will continue to fight for their right to become an independent State. This reminder was played out in a series of other terrorist attacks by Chechen terrorists who targeted innocent victims when they bombed apartment buildings, conducted suicide bombings in the metro stations in Moscow, seized a hospital in Budenovsk, exploded markets in Vladikavkaz, and sieged the Dubrovca Theater in Moscow.
But if independence is to be tied to such violence, the very word independence should be vulnerable to losing its intended meaning - being responsible enough to be independent. Indeed, the plotters of such acts against innocent civilians seem to contribute to the opposite of being responsible enough to be independent.
Whatever tolerance existed for this troubled region and its people is quickly disappearing. But the quest for Chechnya's independence is further antagonized by an uncompromising Russian government that seems bent on resurrecting its power status in the world by trying to win the hearts and souls of the people who were once constituents of the USSR.
While my generation doesn't really know much about the history behind Chechnya's conflict with Russia, we tend to see the past through the prism of our own experience. Hopefully people my age have learned two very important lessons.
First - violence gives birth to violence and the very nature of violence is cyclical. Secondly, those who choose to use violence will not achieve their long-term goals.
The war in Chechnya is a textbook example that proves terrorism will not help the Chechen people in their quest for independence. Terrorism does nothing to heighten sympathy for a cause and as such, it annihilates any pubic support.
Since 1994 Chechnya has been a thorn in the side of the Russian government. Author Robert Seely in his book, Russo-Chechen Conflict 1800-2000 attributes this thorny conflict to an inability for either side to provide order and security in Chechnya.
Yossef Bodansky, author of Chechen Jihad has a slightly different take. He discusses how this war of independence has kind of morphed into a holy war against Russian infidels.
However, neither one of these theories successfully explain away the grief of having lost thousands of people on both sides. This leaves the question of whether the means of acquiring independence is worth the desired end. Nation States are not likely to roll over easily without retaliation.
The Yeltsin administration, for example, proved to be both incompetent and condemned in dealing with this conflict. The Putin government, however, has been credited for successfully attacking the Chechen conflict. His harsh response to Chechen terrorist attacks traces back to 1999 when he said, "We'll get them anywhere. If we find terrorists in the toilet, then we'll blast them in the toilet."
One has to wonder where the UN's 192 member States comes down on conflicts like this and why, as a body of peacekeepers, they can't come to an agreeable definition of what constitutes an act of terrorism. Perhaps it's because many States' actions could easily fall within such a category.
Although the founders of the UN hoped the organization would serve the people, right now it is just a forum for diplomats to pursue their self interests and present foreign policies that benefit their countries.
Hiding behind the famous Article Two- Seven of the UN Charter (which delves into the principle of sovereignty and the noninterference in internal matters of a State) are nations like Russia which feel insulated because other nations cannot interfere in their foreign and domestic policies.
In his address to the UN General Assembly, Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov said, "We will not let anybody encroach on the sovereignty of our state." As such it's quite unlikely that long-term solutions to the Chechen conflict will ever see the light of day.
Today, the Chechen Republic has its own constitution which passed through referendum in 2003. This document stated that Chechnya is part of the Russian Federation. Russia has committed to allocating 6 billion roubles a year to Chechnya in an effort to help stabilize the region and eliminate economic conditions that provide fertile breeding grounds for terrorists.
Changing the situation for Chechnya so that it will be recognized as an independent State that is part of a Russian Federation will require a considerable amount of time. It's unlikely this will occur under a Putin government. After being the main-man in the Kremlin for the past 10 years, President Putin has been officially named the tsar of New Russia. He was also Time magazine's Man of the Year 2007. Such anointments are unlikely to alter the course of history for Chechnya but perhaps if the violence can be subdued then there might be a sliver of hope for peace.
