Rebellion Creeping Through Caucasus

LA Times via Yahoo News ^ | 10/23/05 | Kim Murphy

[baseball_fan]

GHIMRI, Russia — A dripping and cavernous tunnel, three miles through the belly of the mountain and lighted only by a spindly strand of dim bulbs, marks the entrance to the land of deep gorges and outlaw villages of the Caucasus range.

Emerging in the bright daylight on the other side is like entering another world, a Russia that is not Russia. Road signs every few feet are bright green with Arabic script: "There is no god but God, and Muhammad is his prophet." Several dozen signs bear the words of a legendary Caucasian warrior: "He who thinks about consequences is not a hero."

Since the 19th century, Russia has tried to tame the 650 miles of snowy peaks and fertile lowland slopes between the Caspian and Black seas. Today, the Caucasus wars seeping out of Chechnya through the surrounding, predominantly Muslim republics are increasingly being waged under a banner of militant Islam.

This creeping Islamic revolution, analysts suggest, is the latest outcome of the Kremlin's failure to adopt a coherent policy for combating religious extremism in a nation with 23 million Muslims.

Moscow's disorganized and violent attempts to suppress Caucasian Muslim insurgents have swept up thousands of innocent believers in the process. The brutal arrests, police raids and mosque closures appear to be alienating a population that until now had largely sympathized with Russia's attempts to quash terrorist attacks and bring peace to the region.

In areas like this mountainous region of Russia's Dagestan republic, the battle for hearts and minds may be lost...

...snip

[happyathome]

Don't think America is "giving" anything to the Russians. The Russians will do whatever they want in the Caucasus, regardless of our position on the conflict.

Amazing to watch the Russians commit national suicide. Iran's behind the growing Muslim revolt in the Caucasus, and yet Russia kisses up to Tehran while at the same time commiting the most horrible atrocities in Chechnya (although, to be fair, Beslan was at least as bad or maybe worse than anything Ivan's done). They don't understand the idiocy, the contradiction, the complete short-sightedness of their policy.

I wouldn't dirty my hands by backing or even sympathizing with either side. I think America needs to focus on building up democracies in Georgia and Armenia, as after the Russians are kicked out of the mountains, the Muslims will turn on those two Christian nations.

[dk/coro]

Better think this one through.

I submit that this hotbed of insurrection is but one more manifestation of the "Clash" that Huntington, Lewis, Pipes and other scholars --without reservation -- consider to be underway: Islamist Fundamentalism vs. Western Democracy.

Putin stands not a chance against this cauldron of religious/cultural insurgency over the long term.

Europe is lost. Demographic imbalances has assured its demise vis-a-vis the Islamic threat.

And, the Far-left and Globalist hand-wringers will do all in their power to constrain our responses to the threat, right here in our Republic.

What is your rebuttal to this argument?

Anyway, have a good week.

[cripplecreek]

All I know is that we can't allow Europe and Asia to fall to islam unless we're willing to sit back and watch a slaughter that will make the nazi death camps and Stalinist purges look like they were just kidding.

America cannot survive an islamic world.

[FreeReign]

What is your rebuttal to this argument?

There are only two choices.

I believe we should continue the type of battle we are fighting now. Remove terroists, remove terrorist supporting governments and defang(reform) Islam.

What do you think choice B is?

[FairOpinion]

"This creeping Islamic revolution, analysts suggest, is the latest outcome of the Kremlin's failure to adopt a coherent policy for combating religious extremism in a nation with 23 million Muslims. "

====

You might want to ping your ping list.
What coherent policy can there be against these terrorists, except defeating them?

Russia has a serious problem.

[GarySpFc]

Chechnya and the Caucasus do not deserve to be the pawns of an international game, in which America "gives" them to Russia in return for Russian "support" against militant Islam.

Chechnya and the rest of that area deserves to be free (from Russia). We push it into the hands of Islamicism by treating it the same way Eastern Europe was treated after World War II -- as a political bargaining chip.

The remarks above are simply insane. Firstly, Chechnya is a part of Russia. Secondly, we did not push them into the hands of Islamicism, the thugs ran the rest of the people out of the region in a takeover. Thirdly, the Chechen terrorists are controlled by al-Qaeda, and you will find them on every battlefield in the world where you find dead al-Qaeda. Yep, let's set up the Republic of al-Qaeda on Russia's border. sarcasm/off

[bert]

.....How to avoid the creation of more Afghanistans under the Taliban?.....

The war in Iraq is being fought to achieve this purpose. A free Iraq and prosperous industrial base in the Gulf will enable the Islamic leaders to dampen and separate the violent fundamentalists from those wanting political freedom.

The war in Iraq has always been about a new start rather than tinkering with the status quo. W knew what was possible and is now making it come to fruition.

[Tax Government]

Number 1. Russia has been trying to conquer Chechnya for three or four centuries at least. That does not make Chechnya Russian.

Number 2. We are ignoring Chechnya and its population's right to exist as a distinct entity. Instead of asking the international community (or the U.N.) to take an interest, we are ignoring it-- giving Russia a free hand to do its worst. It IS doing its worst.

Number 3. The Chechens will look for support where they can find it. The surrounding countries have used Islam as a point of unity to resist Russian incursion. That is happening now.

Nothing I said need to be amended. Your statement that the remarks are "insane" is just uncivil.