Posted on 08/25/2009 1:36:23 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
One of the biggest myths perpetuated by Vladimir Putin's propaganda machine is that during his 10-year rule over Russia, the former president and current prime minister succeeded in "pacifying" the North Caucasus. Nothing could be further from the truth. What we are witnessing today is the start of the third Caucasus war in 15 years, following the two Chechen wars of 1994 and 1999.
There was the June 22 attack on Ingushetia's president Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, the recent murders of Chechen human rights activists Natalia Estemirova and Zarema Sadulaeva, and last week's terrorist attack in Nazran, which killed scores and maimed hundreds. Add to these the near-daily attempted murders of police officers in Dagestan (according to the local interior ministry, there have been 128 murder attempts against law enforcement officials since the beginning of this year alone) and the constant kidnappings in Chechnya....
There are several reasons why the "pacification" of the region has failed. Vladimir Putin committed a fateful mistake when he struck cynical deals with influential clans in the North Caucasus to keep the region under Moscow's formal control: Federal money and blank checks on lawlessness to often criminal and corrupt local leaders were exchanged for their personal loyalty and support during so-called "elections." The result of such deals is that the laws of the Russian Federation no longer apply in the North Caucasus, which is ruled by increasingly repressive regimes.
....Russia's recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia (cheered on by separatists in the North Caucasus) after last year's Georgian war could come back to haunt Moscow. With this action, Mr. Putin and his successor in the Kremlin, Dmitry Medvedev, signaled that threats and blackmail can go a long way in achieving the separatists' goals.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Last Friday, two suicide bombers on bicycles killed four policemen in Grozny, in what the Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, said could have been aimed at killing him at a ceremony to mark his birthday.
Also, in neighbouring Ingushetia last week, suicide bombers killed 20 people and injured around 140 others.
Them danged Caucasians are rioting again! You just can’t keep ‘em in their place.
You seem to be novice at history in general.
Please enlighten me....
That seams to be an impossible feat.
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