It is not just in the past that CPGB and SWP expressed their
“internationalism” by giving support to the right wing in other parts
of the world. Their currently hail Chechnian terrorists fighting for
“independence”.
The working people of Chechnia have the right to self-
determination and must receive sovereignty if they want it. But the
question is: do they want it? There was no evidence of it whatsoever
when USSR was in place, and since the conflict began there never was
nor could be an objective referendum on this question.
The trends of nationalism and the thirst for independence were
brought about by Gorbachov and Yeltsin in 1989—1992 when they promoted
divide-and-rule politics. As capitalism was restored, the supporters of
independence in Chechnia campaigned for it with reservation in mind not
to share the products of exploitation of working people with the
Kremlin and to gain unlimited control of finance capital locally.
Chechnia was one of the regions, over which the Yeltsin’s gang
lost control. To attain their ends, Dudajev and other new local
parasitic leaders gave amnesty to hundreds of criminals who were
imprisoned during Soviet years. The latter, together with the aid from
international terrorists, were used to form an army of head-hunters who
shortly started ethnical cleansing and ordinary raids of robbery to
redistribute both public and private property into their hands.
Yeltsin, on his side, wanted to use the situation in his
advantage. In case left-wing struggle was close to a mass strike (i.
e., a risk of socialist revolution), it was necessary to have a sound
excuse to declare the radical opposition (i. e. communist)
organisations illegal in accordance with the constitution. On a number
of occasions, the exact locations of Chechnian terrorist leaders were
known to the Russian army in good time. They could be assassinated and
immense problems for Chechnian terrorists thus could be created, should
Yeltsin have wished to do so. However, he tried to conduct the military
actions instead so that the conflict would go on, with a possibility of
something serious unfolding. This politics of minimal intervention to
stop crimes in the Chechnian district of Russian Federation was fit for
the Chechnian oligarchs, and, in return, they ensured that the
“democratic” elections in the district resulted in over 80 percent in
support of Yeltsin.
United States, too, did not miss an opportunity to subordinate the conflict to
their interests. Despite all their reassurances, it is clear that they do not want
Russia to be a _strong_ capitalist country as much as
they do not want it to be a socialist country. The state of economy and the military
potential is just perfect. But destruction of the Soviet Union is insufficient to
ensure either that conditions for socialist revolution
do not develop or that Russian capitalism does not gain strength temporarily. In
reality, they want further partitioning of Russia to weaken the economy and to
eliminate the traces of its influence on the world scale. Ch
echnia is a perfect gateway for this purpose. Is US not relieved to see Islamic
terrorism concentrating on fighting against Russia rather than against America? Who
would doubt that Clinton’s cabinet was tempted to assist
the Chechnia’s breakaway rebels financially or militarily?
Yeltsin did put some effort to stop the conflict on the eve of his elections
in Summer 1996 (Dudajev, one of the terrorist leaders, is believed to have been
destroyed by Russian Army), but as soon as here-confirmed h
is stay in the office, the problem’s priority dropped again. By Autumn 1999, it was
evident that Kremlin parasites were getting more trouble from the military fighting
than potential use, and the moves to terminate the wa
r re-emerged. One reason was that there was a growing public concern about 23000 dead.
(Official data for citizens of Russian Federation only; the real numbers are likely to
be much higher.) The other is, as Putin’s campa
ign has shown, that Chechnian rebels have received and accumulated
enough military support from Islamic terrorists and US imperialism to
represent a real challenge to the weakened Russian Army.
So far, Putin’s campaign has hit the ordinary citizens in Chechnia
more than the terrorists, against whom it was allegedly directed. It
also resulted in total and, in some cases, irreversible devastation to
the economy and environment in the Chechnian part of Russia.
Like the imperialist First World War, the war in Chechnia is an
unfair war. Moreover, it is an unneeded war, because Yeltsin had all
the opportunities to prevent it at an earlier stage. The only correct
position for Marxists-Leninists to take is to support neither side. The
solution to the conflict remains to restore the Soviet power and to
resurrect the Soviet Union as a multinational state of peace, within
which the working people of Chechnia and Ingushetia (their neighbouring
republic) could enjoy autonomy, free from oppression by local
criminals.
Solution cannot be about giving the bloodsuckers, who are so much
in favour of independence, the right to set up a terrorist dictatorship
over all those people of different nationalities in Chechnia
unfortunate enough to get under their heel.
The incorrect positions regarding the First World War taken
virtually by all social-democratic and socialist organisations apart
from the Bolshevik Party led to the downfall of the Second
International. Today, the reactionary views on contemporary questions
similarly indicate the groups betraying the cause of the liberation of
mankind.
Viktor V. Bourenkov.
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