From: Dan Gifford Here's a bit of background to those photos I sent you earlier at http://www.navoine. <http://www.navoine.ru/forum/viewtopic.php?p=551> ru/forum/viewtopic.php?p=551 and the Russian-Georgian conflict in general that you should know.
According to information from expert intelligence sources relayed to me, many of those in the photos are not regular Russian troops. According to the note I received: "They are Chechen 'irregulars' and 'volunteers' of the 'East Battalion' (clearly identified on their vehicles) under the direction of the Yamadaev brothers, reputed to be among the most vicious criminal organizations in the region. http://www.jamestow <http://www.jamestown.org/chechnya_weekly/article.php?articleid=2374125.> n.org/chechnya_weekly/article.php?articleid=2374125. The Russians are indeed settling old scores and giving voice to Lenin's old adage "The purpose of terror is to terrorize." You will also note the one corpse alongside the road upon which kindling has been piled. Think Apache ... it's essentially the same approach. Don't expect the New York Times or the Los Angeles Times to say squat. The Intel guys have been trying to get them interested and have been given a very cold shoulder. Okay, gets a little tricky here -- the brothers are Sulim and Badrudin Yamadaev. Sulim 'was' commander of the Vostok Special Battalion and formerly Brigadier General in the armed forces of Ichkeria. In early August he was 'officially' dismissed from the Chechen Army and charged in the kidnap/murder of businessman Usman Batsaev (a successful manufacturer of macaroni if you can believe it). The brothers essentially run a protection racket (if you run a business you pay us to make sure your trucks get through, your factories and warehouses don't burn down, your employees stay healthy, etc.). Now, here's where it gets even more interesting -- the Vostok Special Battalion, although theoretically a Chechen force, does not work directly for the Chechen government and President Ramzan Kadyrov but rather directly for the Russian Ministry of Defense in Moscow. So basically they are Moscow's 'hired thugs' with their presence intended to keep Kadyrov's government in line. Further, as Kazyrov cannot officially dismiss Yamadaev, it's all a moot point, so the latter retains command of the Vostok (East) Special Battalion It's a regular can of worms. If you want to know what 'special battalions' do your best guide would be the activities of the German's Einsatzgruppen <http://en.wikipedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einsatzgruppen> .org/wiki/Einsatzgruppen in W.W.II. Oh, yes, a very nasty business indeed." The employment by the Russians of such a criminal element would explain many -- but not all -- of the stories about rapes, bank robberies, looting and outright murder going on in georgia by invading forces. I say it would explain them all because the Russian army I and many others are familiar with can look good during short spurts, but has big internal problems that can cause major unraveling. Unless the Russians have done a major cultural and command overhaul, I its officers remain mostly arrogant martinets and thieves that hate the lower ranks, the NCOs still beat the hell out of the enlisted men, the enlisted men still beat and torture the hell out of each other within their own sadistic pecking order and that they remain consumed with working blackmarket scams rather than paying full attention to their military duties. Profits must be shared with those above them in rank. I further suspect the Russian military still has a major alcoholism problem, that soldiers are underpaid, resentful of those in authority and all too willing to sabotage their own equipment out of spite or to reap black market profits. Some elite units would be an exception, of course. All in all, I doubt most Americans have any idea who the real players are in this Russian-Georgian conflict nor can they appreciate the brutality of it all. Worst of all, our esteemed media is doing next to nothing to fill the knowledge gap. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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