Yury Mironov: Dazzled with hatred

The history of relations between Russia and the North Caucasus (Dagestan, Chechnya, Cherkessia) has not been ideal, but their membership in the Soviet Union opened the whole world for the nations of these territories – the wealth of the world culture, the modern technologies and the modern lifestyle. A combination of this and the socialistic principles of mutual relations provided a huge cultural rise for those nations.

The crush of the Soviet power had the most negative affect on the nations, living in the remote areas of the country, not only in terms of the economy (the North Caucasus became the zone of the highest level of unemployment). There was also the issue of ideology, since the only natural ideological ground for the unification of the nations in one state was destroyed. The people of those areas turned out to be under the oppression of the profiteers from the center and the local criminal and political authorities. There are a lot of layers in the Chechen war. While the mercenaries and militants are fighting with each other, the figures of the local or Moscow oligarchs are out there to fight with each other too, but their fight smells oil, more of the Caspian oil, rather than the Chechen oil. But even behind those figures one may sense the common governing will, which sometimes pushes the events, like in the beginning of the last war, and sometimes contains the adversaries, restricting the efficiency of the terror on the territory of the mother country, or hampering the development of the military operations in Chechnya. As it seems, the Chechen military potential is meant for the strategic plans of the future.

The influence of this force, which is of equal authority both for the Chechen gunmen and for the Russian power, makes the Chechen war turn from a hard, but upright conflict between the separatists and those, who stand for the integrity of the Russian power, to a battle of gladiators. This battle is much more brutal, than was practised in ancient Rome, since a lot of defenseless civilians found themselves in the bloody meat grinder machine together with a lot of specially trained soldiers.

The motto of independence can have a different content on the territory of the former Soviet Union. In some regions it is used as a temporal solution of the problem to preserve the social and political rights of the Soviet period, like for example in Transdniestr, or in the unrecognized republic of Abkhazia. In Chechnya, however, it serves for the monopolization of the criminal income in the hands of the local oligarchs.

As far as the islamism of the former officers of the Soviet army is concerned, it should be said that it is as fake as the faces of the officials, when they attend the divine services in the Moscow temples. Islam is like a pseudo-ideology for the lost post-Soviet generations of the North Caucasus. The Chechen mercenaries are equipped better in this respect, than their enemies, since the nationalism and the Islamic fundamentalism for the feral people can be an excuse for the hatred. Although Islam as one of the world religions, which absorbed the ancient wisdom of the humanity, does not justify the keen brutality of the Chechen terrorists.

The hatred grows from the war itself, and each shot, each death makes this seed grow, the fragile construction of the Russian state system cracks under its weight.

There is an active minority within the Chechen nation – the people, who did not succumb to the national criminal and political oligarchy of Dudayev and Maskhadov (Johar Dudayev – the first Chechen president, who was killed in 1995, Aslan Maskhadov - the “incumbent legitimate” president of Chechnya), the people, who realized the anti-national character of this association and took the weapons in their hands to fight against it.

This struggle is very hard and their fate can be tragic, since they have to rely on the forces, allied with their adversaries, having much in common with them.

But there was no one in the Russian establishment to show the Russian soldiers, where the real enemy is. It is not in the trenches, in the woods or mountains, but in the offices. The victims will be meaningless, the courage will be infamous, the hatred will be unjustified, until everyone gets this idea.

Yury Mironov PRAVDA.Ru

Yury Mironov, a pensioner, a candidate of the technical sciences

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov