Notes:

[1] DiPaola, Peter Daniel, A Noble Sacrifice? Jus ad Bellum and the International Communitys Gamble in Chechnya, http://www.law.indian.edu/glsj/vol4/no2/dantest.html

[2] Margolis, Eric, ґFollowing in Stalins FootstepsҒ, Toronto Sun, 31 August 1999

[3] ibid.

[4] Margolis, Eric, Forgotten Chechens Face Exterminationђ, Toronto Sun, 23 January 2000

[5] Damrel, David, The Religious Roots of Conflict: Russia and Chechnyaђ, Religious Studies News, Vol. 10, No. 3, September 1995

[6] ibid. Masud, Enver, Americaђs Disgraceful Silence Over Chechnya, The Wisdom Fund, Arlington, 28 September 1999, http://www.twf.org/

[7] Margolis, Eric, ґUS Aids Russias Crimes in the CaucasusҒ, Toronto Sun, 12 October 1999. For a short review of Russias war-crimes in the first ґ90s war on Chechnya see AI report, Brief summary of concerns about human rights violations in the Chechen Republic, Amnesty International, London, April 1996

[8] Margolis, Eric, Following in Stalinђs Footsteps, Toronto Sun, 31 August 1999

[9] Margolis, Eric, ґUS Aids Russias Crimes in the CaucasusҒ, Toronto Sun, 12 October 1999

[10] ibid.

[11] Editorial Board, The Political and Historical Issues in Russiaђs Assault on Chechnya, WSWS, 17 January 2000, http://www.wsws.org

[12] Economist, 8 January 2000

[13] Margolis, Eric, ґUS Aids Russias Crimes in the CaucasusҒ, Toronto Sun, 12 October 1999

[14] Editorial Board, The Political and Historical Issues in Russiaђs Assault on Chechnya, op. cit.

[15] International WorkerҒs Party, Stop The Aggression of Russia In The Caucaususђ, Russia, 7 November 1999; web-site of International Solidarity with Workers in Russia (ISWoR), http://members.aol.com/ISWoR/english/discuss/Chechen.htm 

[16] Associated Press (AP), 18 September 1998

[17] BBC, A Chechen View of Russiaђs War, 26 December 1999

[18] Womack, Helen, ґRussian Agents Blew Up Moscow FlatsӔ, Independent, 6 January 2000

[19] Dispatches, Dying for the President, Channel 4 [British television], 9 March 2000

[20] Sweeney, John, ґTake care Tony, that man has blood on his hands, Observer, 12 March 2000

[21] Cockburn, Patrick, ґRussia `planned Chechen war before bombings`, Independent, 29 January 2000

[22] ibid.

[23] Blomgren, Jan, Svenska Dagbladet, 6 June 1999; cited in Independent, 29 January 2000

[24] Independent, 29 January 2000

[25] Leaflet, ґChechnya: The Victim Of A Deal Between Russian and America, Hizb ut-Tahrir, http://www.khilafah.com

[26] All in all, whether Basseyev and Khattab were aware of the Russian plan and took part in it due to dubious political interests, or whether they were in fact unaware of the actual plans and were instead unknowingly manipulated by Russian intelligence is unclear from the evidence presented here.

[27] Volkov, Vladmir and McLaughlin, Martin, ґRussian police begin mass roundups in the wake of terror bomb attacks, World Socialist Web Site, 20 September 1999

[28] Izvestia, 14 September 1999

[29] Volkov, Vladimir, ґRussia Mounts Invasion of Chechnya, WSWS, 2 October 1999; Margolis, Eric, ґUS Aids Russias Crimes in the CaucasusҒ, Toronto Sun, 12 October 1999

[30] Marsden, Chris, Russia poised for all-out attack on Chechen capitalђ, WSWS, 23 October 1999

[31] Hassel, Florian, Frankfurt Rundschau, 2 October 1999; cited in ibid.

[32] Masud, Enver, US Shares Responsibility For Russiaђs Genocidal War On Chechnya, The Wisdom Fund, Arlington, 14 November 1999; US Committee for Refugees, Russian Onslaught On Chechnya Continues: Civilians Inside, Outside Chechnya Lack Protection, November 1999, http://www.refugees.org/world/articles/russia_rr99_10.htm

[33] Statement of International Secretariat, LRCI, ґHalt The Russian War Against Chechnya, 4 November 1999; web-site of ISWoR

[34] figure cited in ґPutin visit provokes Muslim fury, The Asian, 27 April - 4 May 2000

[35] Masud, Enver, ґUS Shares Responsibility For Russias Genocidal War On ChechnyaҒ, op. cit.

[36] Russian generals quoted by Margolis, Eric, Forgotten Chechens Face Exterminationђ, Toronto Sun, 23 January 2000

[37] Dispatches, Dying for the President, Channel 4 [British television], 9 March 2000; cited from Programme Summaryђ, http://www.channel4.com/nextstep/dispatches/putin.html#1

[38] Sweeney, John, Revealed: Russiaђs worst war crime in Chechnya, Guardian & Observer, Special Report, 5 March 2000, http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/chechnya . For reports on the Chechen jihad visit http://www.qoqaz.com

[39] Gentleman, Amelia, ґChechens trapped in factory of death, Guardian & Observer, Special Report, 12 February 2000; Gentleman, ґWhitewash fails to hide the horror, ibid., 1 March 2000; http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/chechnya ; Agence France Press (AFP), ґRussian sadists beat, tortured inmates in Chechen gulagђ: reporter, 29 February 2000; Cockburn, Patrick, ґChechens `raped` and `beaten` in detention camps, Independent, 10 February 2000. For more on the massive atrocities/war crimes committed by Russia in Chechnya see HRW report, Civilian Killings in Staropromyslovski District of Grozny, Human Rights Watch, New York, February 2000, Vol. 12, No. 2

[40] HRW press release, ґRape Allegations Surface in Chechnya, Human Rights Watch, Nazran, 20 January 2000, http://www.hrw.org/press/2000/01/chech0120.htm . Also see HRW press release, ґmore Evidence of Rape by Russian Forces in Chechnya, Human Rights Watch, Nazren, 30 March 2000. For further HRW coverage of Chechnya see http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/russia/chechnya .

[41] AFP, 5 March 2000

[42] AFP, ґRussians stole evidence of brutality in Chechnya: Babitsky, 1 March 2000

[43] AFP, ґRussian sadists beat, tortured inmates in Chechen gulagђ: reporter, 29 February 2000

[44] HRW press release, ґHundreds of Chechens Detained in `Filtration Camps`: Detainees Face Torture, Extortion, Rape, Human Rights Watch, Nazran, 18 February 2000

[45] See, for example, HRW report, A Day of Slaughter in Novye Aldi, Human Rights Watch, New York, June 2000. For extensive documentation see HRWҒs online campaign and news service on Chechnya, at Chechnya: Renewed Catastrophe, 2000, http://www.hrw.org/hrw/campaigns/russia/chechnya

[46] cited in Masud, Enver, US Shares Responsibility For Russiaђs Genocidal War on Chechnya, op. cit.

[47] Gentleman, ґKremlin wages war at polls, Guardian & Observer, Special Report, 19 December 1999; http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/chechnya

[48] Williams, Daniel, ґRussia Tells Chechens: Leave Grozny or Die, Washington Post, 7 December 1999

[49] Whittel, Giles, ґCorrupt rich pose test for Putins resolveҒ, Times, 27 March 2000

[50] Voronin, Alexander, A Chilling Flashback to the Soviet Pastђ, Institute for War & Peace Reporting, Caucasus Reporting Service, London, No. 24, 24 March 2000

[51] AFP, Kremlin Rejects Maskhadov Appeal for Peace Talksђ, 2 March 2000

[52] Institute for War & Peace Reporting, Chechen End Gameђ, Caucasus Reporting Service, London, No. 21, 3 March 2000

[53] Guardian, 27 March 2000; Agence France Press, 27 March 2000

[54] Traynor, Ian, UN Chief ends futile Chechnya tripђ, Guardian, Special Report, 4 April 2000, http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/chechnya

[55] Traynor, Ian, In the dark without a torchђ, Guardian, Special Report, 5 April 2000, http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/chechnya

[56] Aguirre, Mariano, Silence Over Chechnyaђ, Foreign Policy In Focus: The Progressive Response, Vol. 4, No. 9, 7 March 2000

[57] Western visitors a PR dream for Putinђ, Guardian, 26 February 2000

[58] MacAskill, Ewan, The west does what it can. Not muchђ, Guardian & Observer, 9 December 1999, http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk

[59] Cockburn, Patrick, Blair visit marks first summit for Putinђ, Independent, 11 March 2000

[60] Hearst, David, How Russia was lostђ, Guardian, 27 March 2000

[61] Wheen, Francis, Blairђs Russian Retreat, Guardian, 15 March 2000

[62] Traynor, Ian and White, Michael, ґBlair courts outrage with Putin visit, Guardian & Observer, Special Report, 11 March 2000; http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk

[63] cited in ibid.

[64] Cockburn, Patrick, ґBlair understands Putin over Chechen terrorism, Independent, 12 March 2000

[65] Cockburn, Patrick, Independent, 11 March 2000

[66] Black, Eben, and Franchetti, Mark, ґBritish terror experts give help to Russians, Sunday Times, 12 March 2000. Note that BlairҒs attempt to downplay the significance of this British aid to Russias war on Chechen independence, by referring to alleged ғMuslim terrorism in the region fuelled by external Muslim countries or alleged terrorist groups, has been refuted already by American journalist Eric Margolis in CanadaԒs mainstream newspaper, the Toronto Sun (31 August 1999): The skilful disinformers at KGBӒs Moscow Center are again spinning lies. They are planting stories in the western media that the Dagestani and Chechen rebels are Islamic terroristsђ, backed by the nefarious Osama Bin Ladeen and other sinister Mideast terror groups. Or Wahabisђ, an ultra-conservative Saudi sect. A shadowy Arab fanaticђ named Khattabђ - certain evidence of an Islamic conspiracy - is said to be at Basayevs side. The anti-Islamic British conservative press has amplified this canard. In a remarkably obtuse and bigoted editorial, a new British-Canadian newspaper actually made the preposterous claim that an independent, Islamic Dagestan (2 million people) would ґspark unrest throughout the Caucasus, somehow including Christian Georgia and Armenia, as well as Turkey, other Russian republics, even the entire Middle East. It concluded: ґMoscow has good reason to act preventively in Dagestan. In fact, the so-called ґshadowy Arab fanatic, Khattab, is actually a descendant of Dagestanis who fled to Jordan to escape Russian genocide. The Chechen and Dagestanis are [largely] not Saudi ґWahabis, but traditional Caucasian Sufi Muslims… No outside powers are helping the Caucasian mujahidin in their valiant, David v. Goliath struggle to throw off 300 years of savage Russian colonial rule.Ҕ Margolis rather overstates his case, for though the majority of Chechens are Sufi and Sunni Muslims, a tiny minority are Wahabis, and they too are involved in the resistance. How ironicӔ, continues Margolis, that the same western media that ardently campaigned for the liberation of another captive Russian people and their return to their historic homeland - the Jews - now calls on Russia ӑto act preventively to crush the Muslims of the Caucasus.Ҕ That the linkage between so called Islamic terrorismђ and the war in Chechnya is simply a Russia fabrication that has been eagerly swallowed by Russias Western allies happy to find any pretext to denigrate Islam, is clear from Goble, Paul, ґChechnya: Analysis From Washington - Misrepresenting Islam, Radio Free Europe/Liberty, 15 March 2000, http://www.rferl.org

[67] BBC2, Newsnight, 17 April 2000

[68] cited in ґWestern visitors a PR dream for Putin, Guardian, 26 February 2000. Also see Hopkins, Nick, ґBlair defends `reformer` Putins visit to No. 10Ғ, Guardian & Observer, Special Report, 17 April 2000, http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/russia . We may note the statement of the Prime Ministers spokesman, Alistair Campbell: ғWhat we wont do is allow the entirety of our relations with Russia and a new Russian president to be defined by only one issueҔ, i.e. the exterminationӔ of Chechen families, the utter flattening of virtually the entire city of Grozny, the rounding of Chechen civilians into concentration camps, etc. In other words, we will not allow the entirety of our relations with RussiaӔ to be governed by the demands of international law and human rights; rather the entirety of our relations with RussiaӔ are governed by the fact that Putin talks our language of [economic] reformӔ, as Blair aptly put it. That ethnic cleansing and acts of genocide are being committed is hardly relevant to the much more interesting possibility of improvements in our bilateral relationshipӔ, as Putin explained, while urging greater Western investment in Russia at an address to business leaders at a Confederation of British Industry (CBI) seminar in Whitehall (ibid.).

[69] cited in Masud, Enver, Chechens Pay for Putinђs Rise, The Wisdom Fund, Arlington, 8 January 2000

[70] BBC News, 5 November 1999

[71] Margolis, Eric, ґUS Aids Russias Crimes in the CaucasusҒ, Toronto Sun, 12 October 1999

[72] Masud, Enver, US Shares Responsibility For Russiaђs Genocidal War on Chechnya, op. cit.

[73] HRW press release, ґWorld Bank Criticized on Funds for Chechnya, Human Rights Watch, Washington DC, 24 March 2000

[74] BBC, 5 November 1999. Note that RussiaҒs reception of billions, means that the reduction of a single IMF loan out of an ongoing stream by only a few hundred million dollars would hardly amount to a substantial economic sanction. This was, in fact, brought up momentarily as a possible mode of action for the US to take, but naturally the idea - insignificant as it would be anyway due to the measliness of the reduction - was swifly dispensed with.

[75] Margolis, Eric, US Aids Russiaђs Crimes in the Caucasus, Toronto Sun, 12 October 1999

[76] cited in Margolis, Eric, ґForgotten Chechens Face Extermination, Toronto Sun, 23 January 2000

[77] Reuters, ґWestern Agents Aided Moscow on Chechnya - Reports, 8 April 2000

[78] Black, Ian, ґRussia and west agree on new security charter, Guardian & Observer, Special Report, 20 November 1999; http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk

[79] OSCE Istanbul Summit 1999, ґRemarks By President Clinton At Opening Of OSCE Summit, http://osce.istanbul-summit.org/UnitedStates/index.htm

[80] Black, Ian, ґAnti-Russia vote puts EuropeҒs tough talk to the test, Guardian & Observer, Special Report, 7 April 2000, http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/chechnya

[81] ґVote for suspension: The west has been lax over Chechnya, Guardian & Observer, Special Report, 6 April 2000, http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/chechnya

[82] International WorkerҒs Party, Stop The Aggression of Russia In The Caucaususђ, op. cit.

[83] Marsden, Chris, Background to the Russian assault on Chechnya: a power struggle over Caspian oilђ, World Socialist Web Site, 18 November 1999

[84] ibid.

[85] Gall, Carlotta, Dagestan Skirmish is a Big Russian Riskђ, New York Times, 13 August 1999

[86] Masud, Enver, Americaђs Disgraceful Silence Over Chechnya, op. cit.

[87] Amani, Leonard, ґPutins Caucasus AmbitionsҒ, Institute for War & Peace Reporting, Caucasus Reporting Service, London, No. 24, 24 March 2000

[88] Traynor, Ian and White, Michael, Blair courts outrage with Putin visitђ, op. cit.

[89] BBC, 5 November 1999

[90] See for example Chossudovsky, Michel, The `Thirdworldisation` of Russia under IMF ruleђ, Third World Quarterly, 16-30 June 1993. University of Ottawa economist Professor Michel Chossudovsky encapsulates the reality of the situation well when he states that The IMF-Yeltsin reforms constitute an instrument of `Thirdworldisation`Ӕ - a careful blend of Stalinism and the `free market`Ӕ. They are a carbon copy of the structural adjustment programme imposed on debtor countriesӔ throughout the Third World. Yet, adopted in the name of democracyӔ, they in fact constitute a coherent programme of impoverishment of large sectors of the population.Ӕ Within Russia, the collapse in the standard of living and the destruction of civil society engineered through a set of macroeconomic policy propositions is without precedent in Russian historyӔ. According to Israeli journalist Amnon Kapeliouk, 87 per cent of the population is now below the poverty line, a figure that far surpasses conditions in Russia prior to its entry into the global capitalist economy (Le Monde diplomatique, September 1993).

[91] Press Release, Chernomyrdin, Chubais, Aven, Khordorkovsky To Speak In London In Aprilђ, Russo-British Chamber of Commerce, London, 29 February 2000, http://rbcc.co.uk/russia2000 

[92] International Solidarity with Workers in Russia (ISWoR), Stop Russia-Expoђ, London, 5 March 2000

[93] New York Times, 19 November 1999. Also see Leaflet, Chechnya: The Victim Of A Deal Between Russian and Americaђ, Hizb-ut-Tahrir, http://www.khilafah.com

[94] Traynor, Ian, Guardian, 27 March 2000

[95] Whittel, Giles, Times, 27 March 2000

[96] Putinђs Presidency, Times, 28 March 2000

[97] Wheen, Francis, ґVillian of the peace, Guardian, 29 March 2000

[98] Putin cited in ibid.

[99] Cockburn, Patrick, Independent, 29 January 2000. Also see ґThe means to an end, Guardian & Observer, Special Report, 17 April 2000, http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/russia

[100] Hearst, David, Guardian, 27 March 2000

[101] Cockburn, Patrick, Independent, 29 January 2000; AFP, ґPutin says he will pursue Chechen campaign until the end, 27 March 2000

[102] cited in News Release, ґForeign Policy Issues, Institute for Public Accuracy, Washington DC, 3 January 2000, http://www.accuracy.org

[103] Womack, Helen, ґPutin dismays reformers by backing tainted St Petersberg boss, Independent, 9 April 2000

[104] Chossudovsky, Michel, ґThe `Thirdworldisation` of Russia under IMF rule, Third World Quarterly, 16-30 June 1993

[105] Feffer, John, Special Report, ґContainment Lite: US Policy Towards Russia and its Neighbours, Foreign Policy In Focus, 26 October 1999, http://www.igc.org/infocus/papers/russia/index.html

[106] Aguirre, Mariano, ґSilence Over Chechnya, Foreign Policy In Focus: The Progressive Response, Vol. 4, No. 9, 7 March 2000

[107] ґPutins PresidencyҒ, Times, 28 March 2000

[108] Hearst, David, Guardian, 27 March 2000

[109] Fialka, John, Helping Ourselves: US Aid to Russia is Quite a Windfall - For US Consultantsђ, Wall Street Journal, 24 February 1994

[110] Guardian, 27 March 2000

[111] Margolis, Eric, Forgotten Chechens Face Exterminationђ, Toronto Sun, 23 January 2000. Iran, for example, has taken the stand that the war on Chechnya is an internal problemӔ of Russia, according to Londons Al-Hayyat newspaper. It is hard to see how this can mean anything except that Russia has the right to terrorise Chechnya because it is an ғinternal affair. The statement precludes the whole possibility of aid to Chechnya, and asserts RussiaԒs right to crush the Chechens since it is an internalӔ problem.

[112] Aburish, Said K., A Brutal Friendship: The West and the Arab Elite, Indigo, London, 1998

[113] Margolis, Eric, Forgotten Chechens Face Exterminationђ, Toronto Sun, 23 January 2000

Mr. Nafeez Ahmed is a political analyst and human rights activist based in London. He is Director of the Institute for Policy Research & Development and a Researcher at the Islamic Human Rights Commission. Above article was first published by the author as Ahmed, Nafeez, The Smashing of Chechnya: An International Irrelevance, Islamic Human Rights Commission, London, Summer 2000.

Source:

by courtesy &  2001 Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed