Vek No. 37 September 21, 2001 HANDS UNTIED? Russia should do whatever it takes to win the war in Chechnya Author: Valerii Solovei THE EVENTS IN AMERICA HAVE UNTIED THE HANDS OF THOSE IN RUSSIA WHO ADVOCATE A HARD-LINE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF CHECHNYA. IT WOULD BE NO BAD THING FOR RUSSIA TO FOLLOW THE EXAMPLE OF AMERICA, WHICH ISN'T CONSTRAINED BY NATIONAL BORDERS WHEN ITS OWN SECURITY IS AT STAKE.
One consequence of the terrorist attacks on America could be a fundamental change in the Chechnya situation. It would make sense for the West to discontinue its "humanitarian" pressure on Russia: this now seems like outright hypocrisy, especially if the United States wants to secure Russia's support in the forthcoming anti-terrorist war. President Putin's warnings about the existence of a "terrorist International", posing a threat to all nations, have been horribly confirmed. Russia became a target much earlier than the US; a bastion of global terrorism has existed on our territory for a whole decade.
Terrorism knows no borders, so it has to be fought over and above state boundaries. In this sense, Russia has every moral and political right to take a hard-line stance toward countries which aid the Chechen separatists or allow them to operate on their territories. If Georgia is incapable of eliminating the nest of Chechen bandits in the Pankesi gorge, it ought to give Russian commandos access to the area. If Azerbaijan isn't in a position to prevent guerrillas passing through its territory into Chechnya, Russia has the right to apply political, economic, and military pressure to Azerbaijan. If these countries refuse to cooperate with Russia in eliminating the terrorist haven in Chechnya, their refusal should be viewed as support for international terrorism - with all the consequences this entails, right up to declaring them "pariah states" and imposing sanctions. It would be no bad thing for Russia to follow the example of America, which isn't constrained by national borders when its own security is at stake.
In this context, any talk of seeking a peaceful settlement with the Chechen bandits - who are part of the global "terrorist International" (there is abundant evidence of this) - makes no sense at all. It would amount to political legitimation of terrorism. The recent attemt by the guerrillas to take Gudermes clearly shows they have no intention of laying down their arms.
The actions of those Russian politicians who seek contact with the separatists, or call for such contact, can't be described as anything other than aiding and abetting terrorism. (Characteristically, over the past week the Union of Right Forces doves have made haste to disassociate themselves from their own proposals for negotiations with the Chechen bandits.) Terrorists only understand one language - the language of automatic gunfire; the only topic we should discuss with them is their surrender.
The events in America have untied the hands of those in Russia who advocate a hard-line solution to the problem of Chechnya. The question now is whether Russia's leaders have the political will to take this stance and the strength to pursue it to the end.